Joshua D. Rothman, associate professor of history at The University of Alabama, will be talking about his new book, “Flush Times and Fever Dreams: A Story of Capitalism and Slavery in the Age of Jackson,” Wednesday, Nov. 7, at 5:30 p.m. on the 2nd Floor of Mary Harmon Bryant Hall in the W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library.

It took Rothman eight years of researching and writing to complete the book.

“The book is about the expansion of the cotton frontier,” Rothman said. “Specifically it is about Mississippi in the 1830s, which at the time was the hottest place to live because there was a lot of money to be made in the cotton economy.”

Rothman said the idea came to him after he read a book that he had assigned to some of his graduate students after coming across a story about a slave insurrection scare in Mississippi.

“I had never heard of the insurrection scare before, so I thought it would make a great story, and after eight years, I think we have it,” Rothman said.

The event is sponsored by the University Libraries and co-sponsored by the Summersell Center for the Study of the South.

“We always like to be really supportive of University faculty, and we did a lecture for his first book and it sold out. He is a popular speaker, so we thought it would be great to have him back,” said Jessica Lacher-Feldman, from the W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library.

“His books are very interesting, and he is a very good speaker, so I imagine it will turn out to be another great event,” Lacher-Feldman said. “Plus it is an interesting subject, so I think it will be good.”

There will be books available for purchase through the SUPe Store that Rothman will be able to sign after the question-and-answer session that will follow his lecture.