claudio saunt is a professor, author, and historian of early america, the u.s. south, and native american studies. saunt is the prize-winning author of "west of the revolution: an uncommon history of 1776" (forthcoming, 2014), "black, white, and indian: race and the unmaking of an american family" (2005), "a new order of things: property, power, and the transformation of the creek indians, 1733-1816" (1999). saunt received his ph.d. in early america from duke university in 1996 and presently works as a richard b. russell professor in american history at the university of georgia, athens. saunt is also the university's chair of the history department, co-director of the center for virtual history, and associate director of the institute of native american studies.