In this biography of Joseph E. Davis, elder brother of and adviser to Jefferson Davis, award-winning author Janet Sharp Hermann provides a fascinating instrument through which to observe nearly a century of American history, from the Revolution and the War of 1812 through the Civil War and Reconstruction. Through his brother’s influence and through his own ingenuity Davis encountered many who were prominent in the history of nineteenth-century America, including U.S. presidents, politicians, Confederate generals, and important figures of the antebellum and postwar South. The prism of Joseph E. Davis’s life offers a vibrant portrait of an incredible century.