First published in 2002. This work examines eight Virginia novels against the background of the political and social concerns of the Jacksonian years in which they were written, arguing that the authors used familial processes as a metaphor to discuss issues that they regarded as critical. Each chapter focuses on a single novel – Swallow Barn, Kentuckian in New York, Cavaliers of Virginia, Horse-Shoe Robinson, George Balcombe, The Partisan Leader, and Knights of the Horseshoe – and examines its connections to the social and political tensions of the time of its publication – generational progress, sectional unity, executive authority, class relations, the nature of the ideal leader, relations among sections and states, socialist and perfectionist communities, and westward expansion.