Gone with the Wind
by Margaret Mitchell
Summary
Headstrong Georgia plantation daughter Scarlett O'Hara navigates love, marriage, and ruin as the Civil War and Reconstruction tear apart the world she has known. Mitchell combines sweeping historical melodrama with a sharply drawn portrait of a heroine defined by stubborn will and moral ambiguity. The book's enormous popularity has made it both a touchstone of American storytelling and a focal point for ongoing debate about its romanticized vision of the antebellum South.
Historical Context & Significance
One of the best-selling novels of all time, Mitchell's only book became a cultural phenomenon. The 1939 film adaptation won eight Academy Awards and cemented the book's place in American popular culture, though it has been widely criticized for romanticizing slavery and the Old South.