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'''''Gone with the Wind''''' ('''GWTW''') is a novel portraying life in the southern [[United States]], during the [[Civil War]] and [[Reconstruction]], written by [[Margaret Mitchell]], and originally published in 1936.  The 1000 page runaway best-seller tells the story of Scarlett O'Hara, a young woman on a Georgia plantation who tries to keep control of her land and find love while facing war, defeat and poverty.  It won the Pulitzer prize for fuction and remains a classic in the history of the self identity of [[The South]]. The book has sold 28 million copies worldwide.

'''''Gone with the Wind''''' ('''GWTW''') is a novel portraying life in the southern [[United States]], during the [[Civil War]] and [[Reconstruction]], written by [[Margaret Mitchell]], and originally published in 1936.  The 1000 page runaway best-seller tells the story of Scarlett O'Hara, a young woman on a Georgia plantation who tries to keep control of her land and find love while facing war, defeat and poverty.  It won the Pulitzer prize for fiction and remains a classic in the history of the self identity of [[The South]]. The book has sold 28 million copies worldwide.

[[File:Gwtw2.jpg|thumb|400px]]

[[File:Gwtw2.jpg|thumb|300px|<center>'''Advertising poster for ''Gone with the Wind'''''</center>]]

''Gone with the Wind'' was made into a Technicolor film in 1939, starring [[Vivian Leigh]] and [[Clark Gable]], and directed by [[Victor Fleming]]. It was [[Hollywood]]'s largest and most expensive production to date, with a huge cast, massive sets (the fake city of Atlanta was burned down). [[David O. Selznick]], the legendary, manic M-G-M producer who dominated every aspect of the film, fired the first director [[George Cukor]], and Fleming finished up.  It won eight Academy Awards, and is the most-seen and highest grossing film of all time.

''Gone with the Wind'' was made into a [[Technicolor]] film in 1939, starring [[Vivian Leigh]] and [[Clark Gable]]; the directing credit went to [[Victor Fleming]], who, coincidentally, was credited with the studio's ''other'' 1939 blockbuster, [[The Wizard of Oz]]. It was [[Hollywood]]'s largest and most expensive production to date, with a huge cast, massive sets (the fake city of Atlanta was burned down). [[David O. Selznick]], the legendary, manic M-G-M producer who dominated every aspect of the film, fired the first director [[George Cukor]], and Fleming finished up.  It won eight Academy Awards, and is the most-seen and highest grossing film of all time, (based on 1940 dollars).

The book and film do not attack slaveholders, the slaves appear to be too happy and the Freedmen too angry, so [[Neoabolitionist]] critics have been hostile.  In fact Hollywood gave black actors the best parts they had ever received and Hattie McDaniel (1895-1952) with her performance as Mammy, the sassy, independently minded, and opinionated maid who is never slavish, became the first black to win an Oscar.

The book and film do not attack slaveholders, the slaves appear to be too happy and the freedmen too angry, so [[Neoabolitionist]] critics have been hostile.  In fact Hollywood gave black actors the best parts they had ever received and Hattie McDaniel (1895-1952) with her performance as Mammy, the sassy, independently minded, and opinionated maid who is never slavish, became the first black actor to win an Oscar.

The story is intensely anti-war, showing how hot-heads (repeatedly ridiculed by Rhett Butler) take the highly prosperous South into a needless war and destroy their whole way of life.   

The story is intensely anti-war, showing how hot-heads (repeatedly ridiculed by Rhett Butler) take the highly prosperous South into a needless war and destroying their whole way of life.   

None of the characters is profoundly changed by the war, except for Scarlett.  She moves from the frivolous lover of leisure to a Yankee-like shred, hard-driving business leader. It takes a very hard-headed Scarlett to whip the underperforming traditionalistic menfolk into shape to deal with the modern postwar economy.<ref> Scarlett's transformation is exactly what they Yankees had planned for the Southern white men during Reconstruction. See C. Vann Woodward, "The Southern Ethic in a Puritan World," ''William and Mary Quarterly,'' Vol. 25, No. 3 (Jul., 1968), pp. 344-370 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/1921772 in JSTOR]</ref>  Rhett, although Southern-born is a war profiteer who is hated by the men because he resembles a mercenary money-grubbing Yankee. Only prostitutes like him. At first Scarlett finds the war merely tiresome as the foolish young men rush out to get killed, spoiling her parties. Scarlett only loves Ashley; she can't have him so she marries a series of men for the money to save Tara, her home. That motivation marks her transformation. As the the first female capitalist of the New South, she resists Rhett's overtures even after marriage showing her choice of money and power over sex and romantic love. In Shakespearian terms, she is a shrew who will not be tamed.   

None of the characters is profoundly changed by the war, except for Scarlett.  She moves from the frivolous lover of leisure to a Yankee-like shred, hard-driving business leader. It takes a very hard-headed Scarlett to whip the under-performing traditionally minded menfolk into shape to deal with the modern postwar economy.<ref> Scarlett's transformation is exactly what they Yankees had planned for the Southern white men during Reconstruction. See C. Vann Woodward, "The Southern Ethic in a Puritan World," ''William and Mary Quarterly,'' Vol. 25, No. 3 (Jul., 1968), pp. 344-370 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/1921772 in JSTOR]</ref>  Rhett, although Southern-born is a war profiteer who is hated by the men because he resembles a mercenary money-grubbing Yankee.<!-- (commenting out until we get confirmation or reference for this assertion) Only prostitutes like him.--> At first Scarlett finds the war merely tiresome as the foolish young men rush out to get killed, spoiling her parties. Scarlett only loves Ashley; she can't have him so she marries a series of men for the money to save Tara, her family home. That motivation marks her transformation. As the the first female capitalist of the New South, she resists Rhett's overtures even after marriage showing her choice of money and power over sex and romantic love. In Shakespearean terms, she is a shrew who will not be tamed.   

Gable gave the best, most expressive acting of his career. De Havilland provided the movie with a moral center, and Leigh gave one of the most electrifying performances in the history of film.  

Clark Gable gave the best, most expressive acting of his career. Olivia de Havilland provided the movie with a moral center, and Leigh gave one of the most electrifying performances in the history of film.  

Several authors have tried to write sequels, but none works well.

Several authors have tried to write sequels, but none works well.