In the historical romance which I have woven of the dramatic events of the life of Jefferson Davis I have drawn his real character unobscured by passion or prejudice. Forced by his people to lead their cause, his genius created an engine of war so terrible in its power that through it five million Southerners, without money, without market, without credit, withstood for four years the shock of twenty million men of their own blood and equal daring, backed by boundless resources. The achievement is without a parallel in history, and adds new glory to the records of our race. The scenes have all been drawn from authentic records in my possession. I have not at any point taken a liberty with an essential detail of history. – Thomas Dixon Thomas Dixon (1864-1946) earlier published The Clansman from which D.W. Griffith produced his film Birth of a Nation.