A sharp, contemporary critique of how Britain and its colonies shaped North America—and why politics, not luck, decided its fate.
This book lays out the tangled history of discovery, treaties, and governance that defined North America in the 17th and 18th centuries, and asks what those choices mean for power, rights, and profit.
A clear, argument-driven examination of how early claims, boundary disputes, and colonial policies were formed. It ties together the impact of the Utrecht and Aix-la-Chapelle treaties, the role of the Hudson’s Bay Company, and the contested limits of Newfoundland and New France, all while weighing the ambitions of settlers and empires.
- How European claims to North America were asserted and contested through treaties and conquest.
- How the British and French approached boundaries, trade, and the rights of Indigenous peoples.
- Why British policy in America faced criticism and what it meant for future conflicts.
- Proposals for funding and governing American colonies to support defense and trade.
Ideal for readers of political history and early American affairs, this edition sheds light on the motives, strategies, and consequences that shaped a continent’s fate.