Subscribers to this discussion board will be interested in a new book by historian Joanne L. Yeck. *Peter Field Jefferson: Dark Prince of Scottsville and Lost Jeffersons* follows the rise and fall of Randolph Jefferson’s most successful son. Nephew to President Thomas Jefferson, his life parallels the changing cultural landscape of the James River’s Horseshoe Bend across seven decades. Jefferson’s success as a self-made man is tainted with great personal loss, making his story a distinctively American tragedy. *Lost Jeffersons* is a collection of essays which follows descendants of Randolph Jefferson and their kinfolk. A microcosm of Virginia’s gentry, multiple generations of cousin intermarriage resulted in a concentration of undesirable traits—including alcoholism, idiocy, and insanity—compromising individuals who might otherwise have led productive and useful lives. The book is available now at most Internet bookstores. Signed copies are for sale at the Library of Virginia's The Virginia Shop. More information can be found at https://slateriverramblings.com/. To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-roots.html This list is made possible by a grant from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).