Nathaniel Beverley Tucker, prophet of the Confederacy, 1784-1851

Biography of Nathaniel Beverley Tucker (1784-1851), who "... was, in time, a man of considerable influence in several fields: law, politics, education and literature." (p. vii). A professor of law at William and Mary College, Williamsburg, Virginia, Tucker authored three novels. The second novel (published in 1836, under the ficti- tious date of 1856) reflected his strong states-rights position, and "... purported to be an account of incidents occurring at a time when a Southern Confederacy had been formed and the first battles of a civil war were taking place in Virginia." (p. 1).