In a series of episodes set during and after the American Civil War Faulkner profiles the people of the South - who might surrender but could never be vanquished. The characters are largely based on Faulkner's own family; in particular, Colonel John Sartoris is a fairly faithful portrait of the author's extraordinary great-grandfather - a notable personality who fought in Mexico, was tried for murder, raised a Confederate regiment, built a railway, ran a plantation, and published a bestseller.