This richly detailed biography of Andrew Jackson Donelson (1799-1871) sheds new light on the political and personal life of this nephew and namesake of Andrew Jackson. A scion of a pioneering Tennessee family, Donelson was a valued assistant and trusted confidant of the man who defined the Age of Jackson. One of those central but background figures of history, Donelson had a knack for being where important events were happening and knew many of the great figures of the age. As his uncle's secretary, he weathered Old Hickory's tumultuous presidency, including the notorious "Petticoat War." Building his own political career, he served as US chargé d'affaires to the Republic of Texas, where he struggled against an enigmatic President Sam Houston, British and French intrigues, and the threat of war by Mexico, to achieve annexation. As minister to Prussia, Donelson enjoyed a ringside seat to the revolutions of 1848 and the first attempts at German unification. A firm Unionist in the mold of his uncle, Donelson denounced the secessionists at the Nashville Convention of 1850. He attempted as editor of the Washington Union to reunite the Democratic party, and, when he failed, he was nominated as Millard Fillmore's vice-presidential running mate on the Know-Nothing party ticket in 1856. He lived to see the Civil War wreck the Union he loved, devastate his farms, and take the lives of two of his sons.

"Richard Douglas Spence has written a biography of Daniel Smith Donelson, a soldier and politician and the nephew of Andrew Jackson. Spence begins with Donelson's upbringing at the Hermitage after Donelson's father died when he was five and follows Donelson's career as a planter, militiaman, state congressman, and finally a general overseeing the Confederate Department of East Tennessee. Fort Donelson was named in his honor, and his brigades fought at Stones River, Perryville, and Murfreesboro before he was transferred to Charleston, South Carolina. He was posthumously promoted to major general after dying of disease on April 17, 1863, at the age of sixty-one"--

The Genealogy Annual is a comprehensive bibliography of the year's genealogies, handbooks, and source materials. It is divided into three main sections. FAMILY HISTORIES-cites American and international single and multifamily genealogies, listed alphabetically by major surnames included in each book. GUIDES AND HANDBOOKS-includes reference and how-to books for doing research on specific record groups or areas of the U.S. or the world. GENEALOGICAL SOURCES BY STATE-consists of entries for genealogical data, organized alphabetically by state and then by city or county. The Genealogy Annual, the core reference book of published local histories and genealogies, makes finding the latest information easy. Because the information is compiled annually, it is always up to date. No other book offers as many citations as The Genealogy Annual; all works are included. You can be assured that fees were not required to be listed.

Confederate brigadier general John Adams refused to leave his men despite his own critical injuries and died at the Battle of Franklin. Until recently, his service was rarely acknowledged. During his remarkable military career, he traversed the country from Tennessee to New York, Mexico to Maryland and then to California. Adams trained and rode alongside some of the most celebrated commanders of the Confederate army, but his greatest feat remains his unwavering devotion to his men and the Confederate cause in his home state of Tennessee. Bryan W. Lane follows Adams's rise in the military ranks until his inevitable fall at one of the most important battles of the Civil War.