On May 10, 1865 Jefferson Davis was caught by Federal troops. It was not until he was in jail that he decided the war must really be over. In this second volume of his memoirs, Davis discusses the specifics of that war, offering his own vantage point of the brutal conflict in hopes that everyone else would come to see it his way.

During the war, Davis faced enormous problems: state governors who didn't want to answer to a central government and generals who didn't trust his military judgment. Under his leadership, the conduct of the war was fraught with disagreements, distractions, and questionable choices. Discussing in detail other important civilian leaders and generals on both sides, Davis attempts to deflect the charges of personal failure. He depicts the North as a savage aggressor, to which the South stands in both military and moral opposition.