About this item
From the establishment of the first permanent English colony at Jamestown in 1607 to the fall of Richmond in 1865, the James River has been instrumental in the formation of modern America. It was along the James that British and Native American cultures collided and, in a twisted paradox, the seeds of democracy and slavery were sown side by side. The culture crafted by Virginia's learned aristocrats, merchants, farmers, and frontiersmen gave voice to the cause of the American Revolution and provided a vision for the fledgling independent nation's future. Over the course of the United States' first century, the James River bore witness to the irreconcilable contradiction of a slave-holding nation dedicated to liberty and equality for all.
About the Author
Bob started out in the news business when he was ten years old, delivering his hometown paper, the "Richmond Times-Dispatch." He spent three decades as a reporter for "The Post & Courier" of Charleston, S.C., and "The Atlanta Journal-Constitution," including four years as Chief Asia Correspondent, based in Tokyo, and eight years covering the White House. He's a former president of the White House Correspondents' Association and author of the nonfiction book, "The River Where America Began: A Journey Along the James."His debut novel is "The Bicycle Man." Bob is married to the artist and children's book author Karen Deans. They live in Bethesda, Maryland, and have three grown children.
