American Colonies (Penguin History of the United States) - Hardcover

Taylor, Alan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0670872822 ISBN 13: 9780670872824

Publisher: Viking, 2001

Synopsis

An acclaimed historian challenges the traditional Anglocentric focus of colonial history by examining the various cultural influences from which "America" emerged and documenting the intricate ecological, ethnic, and economic history of the New World, from the Canadian north to the Pacific rim.

About this title

About the Author

Alan Taylor's books include William Cooper's Town: Power and Persuasion on the Frontier of the Early American Republic, which won the 1996 Pulitzer Prize for history and the Bancroft Prize in American History. He is a professor of history at the University of California at Davis.

Eric Foner, award-winning author of Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution, is the DeWitt Clinton Professor of History at Columbia University.

Reviews

First in Viking's new five-volume series the Penguin History of the United States, edited by noted Columbia historian Eric Foner (Reconstruction), this book by Pulitzer Prize-winner Taylor (William Cooper's Town) challenges traditional Anglocentric interpretations of colonial history by focusing more evenly on the myriad influences on North America's development. Beginning with the Siberian migrations across the Bering Straits 15 millennia ago, Taylor lays out the complicated road map of ownership, occupation and competition involving the Native Americans, African slaves and Spanish, Dutch, French and English colonists. He covers settlement and conquest from Canada to Mexico, and from the West Indies and mainland colonies to the Pacific islands. "The colonial intermingling of peoples and of microbes, plants, and animals from different continents was unparalleled in speed and volume in global history," he writes. Taylor delves deeply into topics given scant mention in most histories: the crucial role of the West Indies in the 17th-century economy and the particular brand of brutality that supported it; cultural disparities among the many Native peoples that influenced their mutually dependent relations with the various colonizers. An extensive, chapter-by-chapter bibliography lists further reading. Even the serious student of history will find a great deal of previously obscure information, for instance that in the 18th century the Russian fur traders went much farther on North America's Pacific Coast than the explorers sent by the Russian crown. The book offers a balanced understanding of the diverse peoples and forces that converged on this continent early on and influenced the course of American history. Illus. (Nov. 12)Forecast: This bold new view of early America should be widely and well reviewed, and will attract a broad range of students of American history.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

*Starred Review* Prizewinning historian Taylor, adding another entry in his prestigious output with this first book in the new Penguin History of the United States series, offers a work of history colored by our age of diversity. Taylor presents a continent benefiting from a plethora of cultural groups, a far cry from the conventional Anglocentric version of U.S. history. Taylor begins in 15,000 B.C. with the trans-Siberian migration across the then-dry Bering Strait to North America, and he follows these peoples through the millennia to their transformation into the multitudinous Indian tribes. Taylor, always ready to debunk, counters the traditional image of the Indians as being respectful custodians of all in the natural world, stating that what actually moved them was a fear of the "spirits" lurking in the plants and animals that would take their revenge on the Indians if they were harmed! He expends much effort on Columbus and the early Spanish settlers in the 1500s, as well as the influence of the French and Dutch on the continent. Most interesting is the manner in which the early colonists, clueless about the natural world of their new continent, were aided by the Native Americans, as well as by, of course, the African slaves--a codependency that mirrors our own "new age" of diversity and mutual interdependence. Allen Weakland
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

In this first book in the "Penguin History of the United States" series, Taylor (history, Univ. of California, Davis; William Cooper's Town: Power and Persuasion on the Frontier of the Early American Republic) examines American colonial history from a wide-ranging perspective. Instead of offering the traditional story of the English colonies and "American exceptionalism," Taylor examines the complex mix of peoples, events, and influences that shaped the New World. He notes that the intermingling of cultures, people, plants, and animals from different parts of the world was unparalleled in speed and volume and had devastating consequences for the environment and most of the participants. Only a very select few prospered during the 17th and 18th centuries, a period in which North America actually lost population owing to diseases, wars, and early deaths. He vividly describes the harsh realities of colonial life and examines the important roles played by French, Dutch, Spanish, Russian, and English colonists as well as Native Americans and African slaves. Well written and documented, this is recommended for academic and large public libraries. Robert Flatley, Frostburg State Univ., MD
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Viking
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0670872822
• ISBN 13: 9780670872824
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 526