My Diary: North and South is a two-volume memoir of Sir William Howard Russell, Irish reporter and war correspondent, in which he recounts his days spent in America during the Civil War. In 1861 Russell went to Washington and returned to England in 1863 when he wrote of his experiences before and during the conflict fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), which was formed by Secessionists declaring U.S. state Ordinances of Secession.

Sir William Howard Russell (1820-1907) was an Irish reporter with The Times, and is considered to have been one of the first modern war correspondents. He spent 22 months covering the Crimean War, including the Siege of Sevastopol and the Charge of the Light Brigade. He later covered events during the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the American Civil War, the Austro-Prussian War, and the Franco-Prussian War.