The Life and Times of General Andrew Pickens

“A comprehensive biography of Andrew Pickens, a backcountry planter, general, and diplomat on the southeastern frontier in the era of the American Revolution and new nation. Recommended.” — CHOICE

“An outstanding book, long awaited by history buffs that will serve as a milestone on an important Revolutionary War military leader.” — McCormick Messenger

“Invaluable for those interested in the finer points of the Revolution in the Carolina backcountry, the postwar shaping of frontier democracy, or a historical work that centers evangelical Christianity in the Revolution and early republic.” — North Carolina Historical Review

“Provides a well-deserved new treatment of Pickens as a military hero, civic leader, and self-made man who was not only a product of the frontier Revolutionary ethos of his day, but also an important shaper of it . . . a masterfully told story.”—On Point

“This clearly written, well-constructed, and thoroughly researched book provides a welcome addition to Revolutionary and Indian affairs scholarship.”—The Journal of Southern History

“Other biographies of Pickens have been written, but this is the best. Rod Andrew has done a great job of sifting through the available evidence to define the man and his life.”—Journal of Americas Military Past

“A detailed portrait of a complicated, often enigmatic, historical figure and the society that produced him.”—H-Net Reviews

“Andrew’s study is a full-scale biography of Pickens, one of the principal generals in the southern theater of the American Revolution . . . [that] open[s] our eyes to the incompleteness of the earlier stories. We cannot understand Pickens fully without considering Native Americans.”—South Carolina Historical Magazine

“A prominent military leader in the Revolutionary South, Andrew Pickens believed in virtue, courage of the heart and body, and sacrificing individual interest for the public good. Rod Andrew offers a nuanced history of this complicated man, tracing his early life, his military career, his contributions to early U.S. Indian diplomacy, and his attempts to reconcile Christian virtue with human slavery. Masterfully written, The Life and Times of General Andrew Pickens is the definitive biography of an understudied American leader of the founding generation.” — David Nichols, author of Engines of Diplomacy

“Andrew Pickens is often portrayed as an enigma, but Rod Andrew brings him vividly to life, linking Pickens to his Scotch-Irish Presbyterian roots and revealing how his beliefs about duty, order, liberty, and honor affected his career as an accomplished diplomat and warrior in the South Carolina backcountry.” — Lawrence Babits, author of Long, Obstinate, and Bloody