From Turtledove
Duke
Brown was a northern
Detinan nobleman. He supported Grand Duke Geoffrey's rebellion against the kingdom and was rewarded with an appointment as satrap of his home province of
Peachtree Province. However, Geoffrey came to regret the appointment, as Brown was a thoroughly independent-minded satrap. He resisted
Joseph the Gamecock's attempts to conscript his militia into the
Army of Franklin. An exasperated Joseph declared that he would defend Brown's province whether the satrap wanted him to or not.
[edit] Literary comment
Brown is based on Governor Joseph Brown of Georgia, who had a famously antagonistic relationship with Jefferson Davis and the Confederate federal government.