As a Harvard alumnus, diplomat, US President, member of Congress and attorney before the Supreme Court, John Quincy Adams had a unique relationship with slavery. Prickly and curmudgeonly, he danced with abolitionists, but never became one himself. However, Adams did harbour an intense hatred for the arguments of Southern slaveholders, and eventually found himself in the centre of America's greatest struggle.Informed by Adams's revealing and often tormented musings from his vast diary, this sweeping narrative offers a unique and gripping account of John Quincy Adams's battle with slavery, while exploring the many fault lines in American society that led to the Civil War. Also included are the dramatic showdowns on the floors of the House of Representatives and Supreme Court, as well as Adams's attempts at outsmarting Southern politicians and his efforts to keep slavery at the forefront of Congressional activities.

The story of the Revolutionary War in the Northern colonies is well known but the war that raged across the South in 1780-1781-considered by some the "unknown Revolution"-included some of the most important yet least studied engagements. Drawing extensively on their letters, this book follows the campaigns of General Nathanael Greene and Lord Charles Cornwallis as they fought across the Carolinas, offers a compelling look at their leadership. The theater of war the two commanders entered in 1870 was populated by various ethnic and religious groups and separated geographically, economically and politically into the low country and the mountainous backcountry, Setting the stage for what was to come.