Brent Tarter is a retired historian and editor at the Library of Virginia, a founding editor of the Library's Dictionary of Virginia Biography project, the author of numerous articles in scholarly journals on various aspects of Virginia history, and the author, co-author, editor, or co-editor of sixteen books, including The Grandees of Government: The Origins and Persistence of Undemocratic Politics in Virginia, A Saga of the New South: Race, Law, and Public Debt in Virginia, Gerrymanders: How Redistricting Has Protected Slavery, White Supremacy, and Partisan Minorities in Virginia.