A remarkably thorough county history and a valuable repository of genealogical data, this work is numbered among the finest books on Virginia counties. It is an ably documented source-book relating to the settlement, growth, and development of an important region--the Southern Piedmont. The historical narrative is not restricted to Pittsylvania alone, which wasn't created until 1767, but embraces the parent counties of Lunenberg and Halifax and the contiguous counties of Henry, Patrick, Franklin, Bedford, and Campbell. The book rings with the names of early inhabitants and prominent citizens (5,000 of whom are identified with page references in the index) and gives a scholarly account of colonial Pittsylvania and of Pittsylvania in the Revolution and the Civil War and accounts of churches, courts, and various county institutions.