In the concluding novel in Matthiessen's celebrated 'Watson' trilogy, E.J. Watson finally gets to tell his own story, from his early days as a destitute child during the American Civil War, through his turbulent life, to his death at the hands of vigilantes. In the process he resolves some of the mysteries raised in the previous two novels. The narrative charts Watson's rise as an entrepreneurial sugar-cane farmer and budding capitalist in the wilds of the south-west Florida Everglades. Intelligent, a devoted husband and father, yet short-tempered, violent and allegedly capable of cold-blooded murder, Watson is a convincingly complex, flawed character, often misunderstood by those around him. In Bone by Bone Matthiessen confronts not only the racism and brutality of the American South at the turn of the century but also the paradox at the heart of human nature- our capacity for fierce love and unspeakable violence.