Jones, J.B., A REBEL WAR CLERK'S DIARY AT THE CONFEDERATE STATES CAPITAL. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott & Co., 1866.  First Ed, brown cloth hardcovers w/gilt titling, 2vols, 8vo (5.1875 x 8"), good / n.a., v.1 xii, 392 pp., v.2 [ii] 480 pp. Corners and edges rubbed, spines of both vols. chipped head and tail, v.1 joint cracked w/2'' crack at top of spine, front hinge of vol.1 also cracked but front board is still attached, occasional foxing and spotting, mostly in the preliminaries of v.2, not ex lib.  

    This is the absolutely amazing story of a man who sat right in among nearly all the top Confederate generals and politicians of the Civil War. Having read this story personally the author of this description did not find it over the top or distorted at all.  The reality of the situations he describes are more than adequate for extreme civil war psychological stimulation and satisfaction. David Eicher has the following to say about this book:

This work, long hailed as a classic, provides a rare glimpse of the inner workings of the Confederate government.  Editor of the pro-slavery paper The Southern Monitor, Jones slipped south four days before the firing on Sumter.  Serving as clerk in the Confederate War Office, he compiled a daily diary that is one of the richest sources on life in Richmond.  Moreover, it is peppered with assessments of numerous personalities of the Confederate government. - Eicher 164, p.58 (Broadfoot [ITC] 241, Nicholson 434, Howes 306, Nevins v.1, 115.)

Wow, what a sector of Captured Tyme; quite the distinctive book indeed!