Historical Background

The purpose of this page is to provide readers with two timelines and further readings that offer historical context regarding the setting of George Newman’s novel, A Miserable Revenge: A Story of Life in Virginia in antebellum Virginia and his own life in the Reconstruction-era and post-Reconstruction-era South.

There are three components to this page, with the first being a historical timeline that provides information concerning the setting of the novel and important historical events that Newman alludes to throughout the novel.

The second component is a timeline of Newman’s life and the events that impacted him.

The third is a further reading section offering more information about the historical environment of the book’s setting to provide deeper insight into Newman’s plot and his characters.

Please use the navigation panel on the left to navigate through this material and learn more about Newman’s life and the setting of his novel.

For additional information on Newman’s life, see: Keeping Up with Yesterday by Ruth Toliver, and also Mark Sawin’s essay, “The World of George Newman and A Miserable Revenge,“ which appears as a companion piece to the novel.

Credit: Benjamin Kimble and Joelle Minicucci

Works Cited

Sawin, Mark. “The World of George Newman and A Miserable Revenge.” A Miserable Revenge: A Story of Life in Virginia, edited by Mollie Godfrey, Brooks Hefner, Jeslyn Pool, and Evan Sizemore, James Madison University Libraries, 2025, 331-368.

Toliver, Ruth M. Keeping up with Yesterday. Self-published, 2009.