Tillson (history, U. of Tampa) seeks to avoid shortcomings of other histories of his native state during the US Revolution by narrowing his geographical scope to a small territory and broadening his chronological scope to a half century. He discusses a troubled gentry, beyond the plantation, the worlds that Northern Neck slavery made, the Scottish merchants, controlling the revolution, the evangelical challenge, and the preservation of hegemony. Annotation ©2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)