Margaret Mitchell (1900-1949) Cover of the book "Gone with the Wind" (Gone with the Wind); the only historical novel sentimental drama of the writer and journalist; whose immediate success and persistent convinced David O. Selznick to produce the eponymous blockbuster directed by Victor Fleming in 1939. Published in 1936 is set in the American South during the Civil War; earned its author the Pulitzer Prize in 1937.