Atlanta-born author Margaret Mitchell was an unknown in 1936 when her novel Gone with the Wind hit bookshelves across the country. The phenomenal success of Gone with the Wind altered her life dramatically. Mitchell's publishers, Macmillan, were convinced that they had a hit on their hands, so convinced that they invested more than $10,000 promoting the novel. But even they were unprepared for sales that numbered more than half a million in a scant three months and more than two million by the time the book ended its 21-month run on the bestseller list. These figures are rendered even more astounding when one recalls what the $3 cost of Gone with the Wind represented to many Depression-plagued consumers.

Certainly Mitchell's chronicle of the American Civil War and its aftermath offers compelling material. Additionally, contemporary audiences may have seen themselves reflected in Mitchell's tale of devastation and struggle...