Category: Colonial America
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The First Frontier: Life in Colonial America (1966) by John C. Miller
John C. Miller’s The First Frontier: Life in Colonial America (1966) is a tightly argued synthesis that reframes early American history by shifting attention away from elites, institutions, and ideology toward ordinary life on the colonial frontier. Its originality lies more in emphasis and perspective than in overturning established interpretations. Americans have always put a…
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Wilderness At Dawn: The Settling of the North American Continent (1993) by Ted Morgan
French-American biographer, journalist, and historian Ted Morgan was born Count Sanche Charles Armand Gabriel de Gramont in Geneva in 1932. He became an American citizen in 1977, renouncing his French noble titles and adopting the Americanized name “Ted Morgan,” an anagram of “de Gramont.” His 91-year life was a full one – ranging from service…
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1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created (2011) by Charles C. Mann
In 1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created (2011), Charles C. Mann examines how the voyages of Columbus set in motion one of the most transformative events in human history – the creation of the Homogocene, a truly globalized, borderless world. Building on the foundation of his earlier work 1491 (2005) and Arthur Crosby’s seminal…
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Hernando De Soto: A Savage Quest in the Americas (1997) by David Ewing Duncan
Few figures from the Age of Discovery embody both ambition and brutality as starkly as Hernando de Soto (1500-1542), the conquistador who carved a bloody path through the southeast of North America in search of gold and glory. In Hernando de Soto: A Savage Quest in the Americas (1997), David Ewing Duncan strips away the…
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The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder (2023) by David Grann
David Grann’s The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder has been a publishing phenomenon, especially for an historical non-fiction account of an event that happened 300 years ago. Since its initial release in 2023, the book has dominated bestseller lists, sold more than a million copies worldwide, and cemented Grann’s reputation as one…
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The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook (2024) by Hampton Sides
It’s rare for serious nonfiction about the late eighteenth century to appear on The New York Times’ list of the Ten Best Books of the Year – but that’s exactly what Hampton Sides achieved in 2024 with The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact, and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook. In…
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The Last Days of the Incas (2006) by Kim MacQuarrie
Kim MacQuarrie’s The Last Days of the Incas (2006) is a riveting account of conquest and discovery. The book recounts the almost unimaginable story of how Francisco Pizarro subdued a native empire of some ten million people with just 168 conquistadors and a handful of horses. Equally fascinating is MacQuarrie’s chronicle of the twentieth-century rediscovery…
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Conquistador: Hernán Cortés, King Montezuma, and the Last Stand of the Aztecs (2008) by Buddy Levy
“Conquistador: Hernán Cortés, King Montezuma, and the Last Stand of the Aztecs” (2008) by Buddy Levy may seem an unlikely work from an English professor at Washington State University, yet it delivers with striking success. Levy brings to life one of the most astonishing and tragic episodes in world history – the Spanish conquest of…
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The Columbian Exchange: Biological and Cultural Consequences of 1492 (1972) by Arthur Crosby
Arthur Crosby’s unassuming little book “The Columbian Exchange: Biological and Cultural Consequences of 1492” (1972) is actually one of the most important works of historical scholarship of the twentieth century. It launched a field of study, altered a paradigm, and continues to shape the way we think about global history. It ultimately spawned a Pulitzer…
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