This volume presents a variety of fresh perspectives on the peoples, periods, and major events of Tennessee history. Featuring contributions by both established historians and rising young scholars, the twenty essays contained here explore new avenues of research and interpretation while considering the forces that have shaped society and culture in the Volunteer State over the past two hundred years. As editor Carroll Van West points out, four major themes link the chapters in this collection. First, this is a "people's history" in which the contributions and interactions of the state's diverse groups--from Native Americans to Civil War generals, from women to African Americans, from rural reformers to the three presidents who began their careers in Tennessee--create a shared narrative. A second major theme concerns the ways in which economic change, both in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, has affected Tennessee politics. The interplay among reform, race, and class, especially in such twentieth-century movements as Progressivism and civil rights, forms a third theme among the essays. Finally, there is the theme of war and its social impact: this volume considers not only the momentous effects of the Civil War but those of the Second World War, particularly on the homefront. Drawn from the pages of the Tennessee Historical Quarterly, these essays offer a well-balanced look at the state's vibrant past. The book will prove an invaluable resource for teachers, students, researchers, and general readers. The Editor: Carroll Van West, who teaches at Middle Tennessee State University, is senior editor of the Tennessee Historical Quarterly and editor-in-chief of the forthcoming Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture. He is the author, most recently, of Tennessee's Historic Landscapes. The Contributors: Elizabeth Fortson Arroyo, Jonathan M. Atkins, Fred Arthur Bailey, Paul K. Conkin, Wayne Cutler, W. Calvin Dickinson, John R. Finger, Cynthia G. Fleming, Kenneth W. Goings, Dewey W. Grantham, Caneta S. Hankins, Paul Harvey, Mary S. Hoffschwelle, Patricia Blake Howard, Connie L. Lester, James L. McDonough, Paul V. Murphy, Robert Tracy McKenzie, Patrick D. Reagan, Gerald L. Smith, Margaret Ripley Wolfe, and Kathleen R. Zebley.

This definitive encyclopedia offers 1,534 entries on Tennessee by 514 authors. With thirty-two essays on topics from agriculture to World War II, this major reference work includes maps, photos, extensive cross-referencing, bibliographical information, and a detailed index.

"The authors introduce readers to famous personalities such as Andrew Jackson and Austin Peay, but they also tell stories of ordinary people and their lives to show how they are an integral part of the state's history. Sidebars throughout the book highlight events and people of particular interest, and reading lists at the end of chapters provide readers with avenues for further exploration."--BOOK JACKET.

First Families of Tennessee is a tribute to these men and women who established the state.