by Alan Taylor
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Product Description
With this volume, Alan Taylor challenges the traditional story of colonial history by examining the many cultures that helped make America. Transcending the usual Anglocentric version of our colonial past, he recovers the importance of Native American tribes, African slaves, and the rival empires of France, Spain, the Netherlands, and even Russia in the colonization of North America. Moving beyond the Atlantic seaboard to examine the entire continent, American Colonies reveals a pivotal period in the global interaction of peoples, cultures, plants, animals, and microbes. In a vivid narrative, Taylor draws upon cutting-edge scholarship to create a timely picture of the colonial world characterized by an interplay of freedom and slavery, opportunity and loss.
"Compelling, readable, and fresh, American Colonies is perhaps the most brilliant piece of synthesis in recent American historical writing." (Phillip J. Deloria, associate professor of history and American culture, University of Michigan)
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Average Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 Complementary readings to Taylor 's interesting book, 2008-10-04
There are already several good reviews on this book, so I will only suggest reading the following books on the USA in addition to Taylor's: A) Dealing with constitutional and political ideas: 1) Constitutional History of the American Revolution by John Phillip Reid; 2) "America's Constitution: A Biography" by Akhil Reed Amar; 3) "Liberty's Blueprint: How Madison and Hamilton Wrote The Federalist, Defined the Constitution, and Made Democracy Safe for the World" by Michael Meyerson; and 4) Lincoln's Constitution by Daniel A. Farber. B) Other books chosen with an approach historically impressionistic: 5) "The Death Penalty", by Stuart Banner; 6) "The Churching Of America, 1776-2005: Winners And Losers In Our Religious Economy" by Roger Finke and Rodney Stark; and 7) "Battle cry of freedom. The Civil War Era" by James M. McPherson.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
 American Colonies, 2008-05-09
This book gives us the information we never received in middle school. The history of the United States did not begin at Plymouth. It began in 1492 and there was a lot happening in the West Indies, Florida, The Carolinas, The Chesapeake, between then and 1750.
Of special interest was the interdependence of the Indians and colonists regarding trade. Also, the plantation mentality of the Carolinas versus the small farmer of New England and Pennsylvania - very important differences.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
Balanced and Thoughtful, 2008-02-23
This is one of the few books I thought worthy of packing to Afghanistan for reading during my deployment.
"American Colonies" strikes me as a balanced and well-researched overview of the colonial experience, whether English, French or Spanish. Alan Taylor paints our colonial history warts and all, which might not appeal to some readers; however, he does not descend into hyperbole. His narrative spans virtually all of the colonial establishments of North America, including the West Indies and the Russian efforts in the Pacific Northwest.
I maintain that the work is balanced because the author supports his contentions with a bibliography full of original sources, and he treats the indigenous peoples with the same unblushing honesty that he does the Europeans (if not at such length; the European colonies are the focus, after all). Mr. Taylor addresses the drastic over-harvesting of beaver by the Montagnais, the Five Nations' virtual obliteration of the Hurons and other neighboring groups, the slave-raiding the Chickasaw practiced against the Choctaw, and the profit-motivated slave-taking which the 'Creek', Yamasee, Cherokee, 'Westo', Savannah and Catawba cheerfully inflicted upon the Guale, Timucua, Apalachee, Tuscarora and others.
All nations, all peoples have elements in their history which are not particularly flattering. Wise people admit and recognize those incidents, consider and judge them in the light of contemporary attitudes and historical imperatives, and draw appropriate conclusions. With "American Colonies", Alan Taylor has made it possible for us to do those things.
Highly recommended. Most people will learn a great deal from this book. If his more unpleasant revelations prompt one to further research, so much the better.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
REALLY GOOD!, 2007-12-23
One of the better histories I have had the pleasure to read, Alan Taylor, instead of focusing on the AngloBritish derivation of America, provides a pre history that delivers the many cultural influences that gave birth to America.
From the early Indian migrations into North America fifteen thousand ears ago, through the European colonization of the sixteenth and seventeenth century, to the late eighteenth century exploration of Hawaii, Taylor widens the funnel that delivered America. It is at once an economic, social and cultural history that redefines our economic and political history and in the process reexamines North American colonization.
Instead of focusing on Boston Yankees and Virginia planters banding together to throw off their colonial status, the palette is enhanced to include our Spanish, Dutch, French and Russian heritage. Above all, Taylor restores the Native Americans to the story, because without their cooperation, support and contributions, the formation and reshaping of a new way of living we call America would never have occurred.
This is a remarkably well researched, exceedingly well written, good work.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Excellent history, 2007-10-10
Extremely entertaining and informative. The settlement of the north American continent has more chapters than Americans are provided in their schools, and this series from Penguin may change that.
This should be required course reading in many topics: US history, government, ecology, politics, idigenous peoples and plants. It is a marvel.
I look forward to the next installents. Anxiously!
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