More than seventy years after its publication in 1936, Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind has never been out of print. An icon of American culture, it has had similar success abroad, popular in Japan, Russia, and post-World War II Europe, among other places and times. This work analyzes the continuations of Mitchell's novel: the authorized sequels, Scarlett by Alexandra Ripley and Rhett Butler's People by Donald McCaig; the unauthorized parody The Wind Done Gone by Alice Randall and a politically correct parody; and the many fan fiction stories posted online. The book also explores Gone with the Wind's ambiguous ending, the perceived need to publish an authorized sequel, and the legal battle to determine who may re-write Gone with the Wind.

The story of the tempestuous romance between Rhett Butler and Scarlet O'Hara is set amid the drama of the Civil War.

A parody of Gone with the wind, this novel tells the story of Cynara, the mulatto half-sister born into slavery who eventually triumphs.

In this #1 bestselling sequel to Gone With The Wind, Scarlett O'Hara's story continues, beautifully capturing the spirit of Margaret Mitchell's timeless tale. Who can forget the most popular, beloved American historical novel ever written? Gone With the Wind is unparalleled in its portrayal the American South during the Civil War era. Now, Alexandra Ripley brings us back to Tara and reintroduces us to the characters we remember so well: Rhett, Ashley, Mammy, Suellen, Aunt Pittypat, and, of course, the unforgettable Scarlett O'Hara. The greatest fictional love affair is reignited as the passion between Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler reaches its startling culmination. Rich with surprises at every turn and new emotional, breathtaking adventures, Scarlett will find an eternal place in our hearts. #1 New York Times bestseller #1 Chicago Tribune bestseller #1 Los Angeles Times bestseller #1 Publishers Weekly bestseller #1 Washington Post bestseller

Fully authorized by the Margaret Mitchell estate, Rhett Butler's People is the astonishing and long-awaited novel that parallels the Great American Novel, Gone With The Wind. Twelve years in the making, the publication of Rhett Butler's People marks a major and historic cultural event. Through the storytelling mastery of award-winning writer Donald McCaig, the life and times of the dashing Rhett Butler unfolds. Through Rhett's eyes we meet the people who shaped his larger than life personality as it sprang from Margaret Mitchell's unforgettable pages: Langston Butler, Rhett's unyielding father; Rosemary his steadfast sister; Tunis Bonneau, Rhett's best friend and a onetime slave; Belle Watling, the woman for whom Rhett cared long before he met Scarlett O'Hara at Twelve Oaks Plantation, on the fateful eve of the Civil War. Of course there is Scarlett. Katie Scarlett O'Hara, the headstrong, passionate woman whose life is inextricably entwined with Rhett's: more like him than she cares to admit; more in love with him than she'll ever know... Brought to vivid and authentic life by the hand of a master, Rhett Butler's People fulfills the dreams of those whose imaginations have been indelibly marked by Gone With The Wind.

“Exquisitely imagined, deeply researched . . . brings to the foreground the most enigmatic and fascinating figure in Gone with the Wind. This is a brave work of literary empathy by a writer at the height of his powers, who demonstrates a magisterial understanding of the period, its clashing cultures, and its heartbreaking crises. ” —Geraldine Brooks, author of March The only authorized prequel to Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind—the unforgettable story of Mammy. On a Caribbean island consumed by the flames of revolution, an infant girl falls under the care of two French émigrés, Henri and Solange Fournier, who take the beautiful child they call Ruth to the bustling American city of Savannah. What follows is the sweeping tale of Ruth’s life as shaped first by her strong-willed mistress, and then by Solange’s daughter Ellen and Gerald O’Hara, the rough Irishman Ellen chooses to marry; the Butler family of Charleston and their unexpected connection to Mammy Ruth; and finally Scarlett O’Hara—the irrepressible Southern belle Mammy raises from birth. As we witness the lives of three generations of women, gifted storyteller Donald McCaig reveals a nuanced portrait of Mammy, at once a proud woman and a captive, a strict disciplinarian who has never experienced freedom herself. Through it all, Mammy endures, a rock in the river of time. Set against the backdrop of the South from the 1820s until the dawn of the Civil War, here is a remarkable story of fortitude, heartbreak, and indomitable will—and a tale that will forever illuminate your reading of Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind.

Haskell keeps both novel and movie at hand, moving from one to the other, comparing and distinguishing what Margaret Mitchell expresses from what obsessive producer David O. Selznick, directors George Cukor and Victor Fleming, screenplaywrights Sidney Howard and a host of fixers (including Ben Hecht and Scott Fitzgerald), and actors Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable, Hattie McDaniel, and others convey. She emphasizes the contributions of Selznick, Leigh, and in an entire chapter, Mitchell, drawing heavily and analytically on existing biographies, the literature of women and the Civil War, Civil War films (especially Birth of a Nation and Jezebel), and film criticism to such engaging effect as to not just revisit GWTW but to revive and intensify the enduring fascination of what Selznick dubbed the American Bible. --Olson, Ray Copyright 2009 Booklist.

Originally published in 2011, Margaret Mitchell's Gone With the Wind: A Bestseller's Odyssey from Atlanta to Hollywood presented the first comprehensive overview of how the iconic novel became an international phenomenon that has managed to sustain the public's interest for more than eighty-five years. Various Mitchell biographies and several compilations of her letters told part of the story, but until 2011, no single source had revealed the full saga. Now updated with two new chapters that bring the saga into 2021, this entertaining account of a literary and pop culture phenomenon tells how Mitchell's book was developed, marketed, distributed, and otherwise groomed for success in the 1930s—and the savvy measures taken since then by the author, her publisher, and her estate to ensure its longevity.

Celebrate the 50th Anniversary of an American Classic. Published in the spring of 1936, Margaret Mitchell's Gone With the Wind was an immediate and overwhelming success; millions of copies were sold in its first year alone. By the time the film opened on December 15, 1939, the anticipation and excitement were so great that the city of Atlanta declared the day an official holiday. Since then, more than 300 million people have seen the film and every year hundreds of thousands of copies of the novel are sold in dozens of languages. This lavishly illustrated book is the ultimate behind-the-scenes history of the novel, the film, and the phenomenon of Gone With the Wind. It includes wonderful anecdotes, original quotes from the stars and the directors souvenir programs from the original premiere, many rare never-before published photographs, and more, from the smell of the smoke and the heat of the flames during the filming of the "burning of Atlanta" sequence to the soft touch of the red dust at the location Tara; from the fangue on the faces of cast and crew after grueling months of shooting to the thrill of premiere night, you will experience the unfolding drama as if you were there.

Based on almost 200 previously unpublished letters and extensive interviews with their closest associates, Walker's biography of Margaret Mitchell and her husband, John Marsh, offers a new look into a devoted marriage and fascinating partnership that ultimately created a Pulitzer Prize–winning novel. This edition of Walker's biography celebrates the seventy-fifth anniversary of the publication of Gone With the Wind in 1936. In lively extracts from their letters to family and friends, John and Margaret, who also went by Peggy, describe the stormy years of their courtship, their bohemian lifestyle as a young married couple, the arduous but fulfilling years when Peggy was writing her famous novel, the thrill of its acceptance for publication and its literary success, and the excitement of the making of the movie. In telling the private side of this twenty-four-year marriage, author Marianne Walker reveals a long-suspected truth: Gone With the Wind might have never been written were it not for John Marsh. He was Peggy's best friend and constant champion, and he became her editor, proofreader, researcher, business manager, and the inspiration and motivation behind her writing. At every point, including the turbulent years of Mitchell's first marriage to Red Upshaw, it was John who provided the intellectual stimulation, emotional support, and editorial insights that allowed Peggy to channel her talents into the creation of her astounding Civil War epic. From years of meticulous research, Marianne Walker details the intimate and moving love story between a husband and wife, and between a writer and her editor.