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Bezig met laden... American Colonies: The Settling of North Americadoor Alan Taylor
Evan's Wish List (57) Bezig met laden...
Meld je aan bij LibraryThing om erachter te komen of je dit boek goed zult vinden. Op dit moment geen Discussie gesprekken over dit boek. This is the 20th anniversary of the book, it has held up well. Taylor shows that the 300 years of the 16th to 18th centuries were much more than the 13 colonies. Indians and African slaves were not mere footnotes but central players. Besides the British there are French, Spanish and Russian, not to mention a polyglot of other nations who settled in North America. The geographic range is vast from Alaska to the sugar islands in the Caribbean. When viewed as a whole there is a broad perspective of what happens when an over populated Europe discovers a fertile new continent. The exchange of disease, food and technology were unavoidable outcomes, with disease playing the biggest role killing off 90% of the native population. The narrative is by necessity broad and shallow, but intellectually stimulating. Entire books of material are found in a sentence or two. Those areas I have previously read about I appreciated the reinforcement and context. Those new to me I found the summary at times too brief to leave an impression. Reading history is the work of a lifetime, this is a useful map. I'll probably never think of the word "Colonial" the same, being of such variety and scope. It's the central thesis, and succeeds. ( ) Fascinating, well written history of the colonial period. Taylor does a nice job of evenhandedly describing the various colonist vs native, colonist vs mother country, and white vs. black issues. I learned a lot. It even covers Russia's forays into Alaska, which I didn't know anything about. It was on such a macro-level that it breezed past facinating issues all too quickly, but it did its job as a survey really well.My interest level flagged in the descriptions of religious issues, but that is a matter of personal taste, the effects of religion were certainly important. A model work of new-style history. Taylor's book isn't a straight narrative, but it has the grip of one thanks to his eye for detail, his better than passable prose (which, in academic history, is... well, that's very high praise), and his even-handedness. The settling of North America was not a pleasant thing. As ever, the test for a work of history is whether it makes you want to read other books on the same topic, and this one did that in spades. A friend has done an excellent review of this book, so I don't have to say anything else. With so very many details about the colonial period in North America from such an incredibly different perspective than I got in school, this book helps make sense of some of the attitudes and institutions in place in the United States today. I'm very pleased that I learned about this book (among others) while my children are still in school and while I'm still in charge of choosing their history curriculum. geen besprekingen | voeg een bespreking toe
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In the first volume in the Penguin History of the United States series, edited by Eric Foner, Alan Taylor challenges the traditional story of colonial history by examining the many cultures that helped make America, from the native inhabitants from millennia past, through the decades of Western colonization and conquest, and across the entire continent, all the way to the Pacific coast. 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. Geen bibliotheekbeschrijvingen gevonden. |
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Google Books — Bezig met laden... GenresDewey Decimale Classificatie (DDC)973.2History and Geography North America United States Colonial period (1607-1775)LC-classificatieWaarderingGemiddelde:
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