In 2010, Kentucky ranked 44th in a national health survey, only 76.4% of Kentuckians graduate from high school, and almost a quarter of children under the age of 18 live in poverty. The grim snapshot of the state, however, has not been always been its prevailing image. The Commonwealth's first settlers brought with them a dedication to democracy and a sense of limitless hope for the future, and very shortly after Kentucky declared its statehood in 1792, it was a well respected innovator and leader for the rest of the nation.

In "Kentucky Rising: Democracy, Slavery and Culture from the Early Republic to the Civil War," historians James A. Ramage and Andrea S. Watkins offers a new synthesis of Kentucky history in the sixty years leading up to the Civil War. Drawing on both primary and secondary sources, they explore the crucial but often overlooked period from 1800 to 1865, a time when the Commonwealth ascended to become a leader in politics, science & education, with the eyes of the nation upon it as a model of patriotism and military spirit, yet still grappling with the thorny issues such as slavery.

James A. Ramage is the Regents Professor of History at Northern Kentucky University. He is the author of "John Wesley Hunt: Pioneer Merchant, Manufacturer, and Financier and Rebel Raider: The Life of General John Hunt Morgan.