Intimate letters meant only for the eyes of the receiver can open a window into everyday lives. Judy Cook discovered a trove of Civil War correspondence between her great-grandparents and arranged them chronologically in A Quiet Corner of the War. When Gilbert Claflin was drafted, his wife Esther and their children were left to run the farm in rural Wisconsin. Their exchanges reveal many details of life during the war. Desertion was common but Claflin, unlike many of his comrades, was a true believer in the Union and expressed sympathy for the former slaves he encountered while garrisoning a Kentucky town.