Book excerpt: Charles Arnould Hentz (1827-1894) was a physician practicing in the rural South in the years leading up to and through the Civil War. This volume includes the diary that Hentz kept for 25 years, as well as his autobiography written at the end of his life. The entries describe the life of a rural doctor who treated patients enslaved and free, birthed children, treated victims of stabbings and shootings, and faced the threat of epidemic fever. Stowe's (history, Indiana U.) introduction gives an overview of Hentz's life and examines some of the recurrent themes in his writing. Annotation copyrighted by Book News Inc., Portland, OR