One a revolutionary leader and the other a vagabond who deserted from the Continental Army, Samuel Adams and Henry Tufts appear opposites, yet they were two sides of the same coin. While one devoted his life to overthrowing British colonial rule and the other to rambling, womanizing and stealing horses, Adams and Tufts represented the self-interested capacity for survival as well as the lofty ideals that made the American Revolution possible. When they crossed paths in 1794, with Adams serving as governor of Massachusetts and Tufts a hapless prisoner facing the gallows, it was the serendipitous climax of three decades of revolutionary activity and crime. Recalling the sometimes complementary roles of virtue and vice in the early republic, the story of these two men reflects themes of the American Revolution, including class differences among colonists, the importance of education in fostering republicanism, and the founders' emphasis on improving criminal justice. It is also a story of redemption--both for these two imperfect individuals and for the revolution that they participated in.

The most comprehensive state project of its kind, the Dictionary provides information on some 4,000 notable North Carolinians whose accomplishments and occasional misdeeds span four centuries. Much of the bibliographic information found in the six volumes has been compiled for the first time. All of the persons included are deceased. They are native North Carolinians, no matter where they made the contributions for which they are noted, or non-natives whose contributions were made in North Carolina.