My own times

At 600 pages, this book is unusually long and informative for a pioneer memoir. The author, a son of Irish immigrants, was taken to frontier Tennessee as a baby in 1788, and then the family moved to Kaskaskia, Illinois in 1800. The narrative combines memoirs of Reynold’s personal life and public service career (including a term as Governor of Illinois and seven years in the U.S. House of Representatives) with historical background for the region. Very substantial parts of the book are devoted to State government, state political issues and campaigns, and the Black Hawk War.