Pulitzer Prize-winner Paula Vogel’s new holiday classic.

Documents an inspiring event just after Christmas in 1862 when closely camped Union and Confederate armies, having endeavored to out-sing one another with contrasting patriotic songs, joined together in a shared round of "Home Sweet Home," in an account complemented by soldier letters, period poetry, and historical song lyrics. Reprint. 50,000 first printing.

"Oh When will this war end? Will another Christmas roll around and find us all wintering in camp? Oh! That peace may soon be restored to our young but dearly beloved country and that we may all meet again in happiness." Introduction Is Jingle Bells a Confederate Carol? The Story Behind I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day Within the Lines The Wartime Journal of a Young Georgia Girl Christmas in the Confederate White House Letters From Home Epilogue We of the South honestly believed that we were fighting for States Rights, while the North is equally honest in the conviction that it was fighting to free the slaves. The real tragedy of this war is that two peoples who both believed in the same God and the sending of "The Prince of Peace" slaughtered each other by the hundreds of thousands while calling on that same God for vindicaton of their deeds. Now that we have seen how much more can be accomplished by peaceful cooperation, and a greater respect and understanding of human rights we wonder how it could have ever come to pass. And she brought forth her firstborn sonand laid him in a cattle feed-troughbecause there was no room in the big house. And his name shall be calledWonderful Counselor,The Mighty God,The Everlasting Father,The Prince of Peace. And of the increase of Peace and of his Kingdom, there shall be no end. Deo Vindice!

"A rich and moving play with music . . . it taps into seasonal themes of redemption, forgiveness and community, with a decidedly American bent."—Variety Set on a chilly Christmas Eve during the latter days of the Civil War, Paula Vogel's new pageant for the holiday season weaves a tapestry of both fictional and historical characters—together with period holiday music and lesser-known marches, hymns, and spirituals—to tell a story of peaceful companionship and communal hope. Paula Vogel's plays include How I Learned to Drive (winner of the Pulitzer Prize, OBIE, Drama Desk, and New York Drama Critics awards), The Long Christmas Ride Home, The Mineola Twins, The Baltimore Waltz, Hot 'N' Throbbing, and Desdemona. She is chair of the playwriting department at the Yale School of Drama, and is playwright-in-residence at Yale Repertory Theatre.