of the American war with Mexico and condemned United States military interference with the rights of Mexicans to self-govern. Davis argued that when a majority of states govern the Union, it is "not as means to secure the welfare of all, but as instruments for the destruction of a part—the minority section." Reception Critical response to the book was and continues to be very mixed. The most lavish praise upon the book's release came from Southern reviewers. A more unexpected enthusiast was Oscar Wilde, who pronounced it a masterpiece while admitting that he hadn't read it all. Most historians and literary critics agree that the book could have benefited from editing, as Davis spared little detail in describing every aspect of the Confederate Constitution and government, often in more detail than most readers cared for. He also retold in detail numerous military campaigns for which there were already many and superior sources (many written by generals and other veterans of the campaigns). Davis defended the detailed military accounts in the book by explaining that, unlike most nations, the entire history of the Confederate States of America was inseparable from the story of a war. By the time of the book's publication, the once-wealthy Davis was elderly, in ill health, and nearly penniless due to the destruction of his estates, the abolition of slavery, and the collapse of the Southern economy during and after the Civil War. He hoped the books would help him in rebuilding his fortune and providing for his family, but while exact figures are disputed, the book was a financial disappointment during his own lifetime for several reasons. It was expensive and thus beyond the reach of many Americans. Davis refused to go on publicity tours that might have aided sales, citing his poor health, his unwillingness to see Southerners pay money they could not afford, and his lack of interest in the book's reception by non-Southerners. Also, sixteen years after the end of the Civil War, interest had begun to wane in the subject, as a new generation of Americans who had not fought in the war became larger, and those who had fought were faced with contemporary problems that were more pressing than the past. The book was far from a complete failure, selling more than 22,000 copies by 1890, but it was never on par with such 1880s bestsellers as the memoirs of Ulysses