Throughout a single day in 1892, John Shawnessy recalls the great moments of his life—from the love affairs of his youth in Indiana, to the battles of the Civil War, to the politics of the Gilded Age, to his homecoming as schoolteacher, husband, and father.

Shawnessy is the epitome of the place and period in which he lives, a rural land of spring-like women, shady gamblers, wandering vagabonds, and soapbox orators. Yet here on the banks of the Shawmucky River, which weaves its primitive course through Raintree County, Indiana, he also feels and obeys ancient rhythms.

A number-one bestseller when it was first published in 1948, this powerful novel is a compelling vision of nineteenth-century America with timeless resonance today.

ROSS LOCKRIDGE JR. (1914–1948) was born and raised in Indiana, graduating from Indiana University. In 1937 he married his high school sweetheart and they went on to have four children. He is most noted for Raintree County, often considered one of the great American novels. Suffering from profound, and largely unrecognized, depression, he committed suicide two months after the novel’s publication. His obituary appeared on the front page of the New York Times.