• dramatic intergenerational rivalries (wilderness-influenced, wealthy young men challenging professors and presidents whom the students consider to be of a lower social class) that on more than one occasion force the University to close its doors and try again;

• political power and intrigue that often bring the school to its knees;

• town versus gown issues that sometimes explode onto the pages of history;

• a fateful decision that brings the University into the crosshairs of the Union, ultimately resulting in the near total destruction of the institution;

• the University’s multiyear post-bellum effort to reopen that witnesses major confrontations between the people of Alabama and the radical state government;

• the never-before-told story of the University of Alabama, African Americans, and slavery.