Ten years in the making, taken largely from primary materials, this biography is a balanced portrait of an extraordinary Arkansas leader. A native of Mississippi, Charles Hillman Brough served as governor of Arkansas from 1917 to 1921. His administration clearly represented New South progressivism and spawned a host of reforms in education, women's suffrage, prohibition, transportation, and governmental efficiency.

A dignified man with a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University, Brough was also known as a brilliant orator, a college professor with a photographic memory, an enthusiastic Baptist, yet a confirmed racist, unable to leave parts of the Old South behind.

He is most remembered in this life history as a consummate champion of the state of Arkansas. Perturbed by the "ignorant backwoods Arky" image made popular by a few notable critics, Brough made a lifelong, conscious effort to refute it. To his lasting credit, he saw and appreciated the wealth of natural resources and human variety within the state's boundaries.