Kentucky's last cavalier

About this book

"William Preston - politician, diplomat, and Confederate general - was the epitome of the antebellum southern landed aristocracy. Born to a well-to-do, well-connected Louisville family, the son of a Revolutionary War veteran, he was educated at Yale and Harvard and married the daughter of Kentucky's largest slaveholder." "As this biography shows, Preston was Kentucky's last cavalier, the beau ideal of the Old South, a dashing defender of the old aristocracy both in the political realm and on the battlefield. His is a multidimensional story of power and privilege, family connections and gender roles, public service and proslavery politics. As Kentucky state historian James C. Klotter declares in the foreword, Preston's life "reveals much about his entire generation and his world.""--Jacket.