Showing titles in Colonial Period

Among the pressing concerns of Americans in the first century of nationhood were day-to-day survival, political harmony, exploration of the continent, foreign policy, and - fixed deeply in the collective consciousness - hell and eternal damnation. The fear of fire and brimstone and the worm that never dies exerted a profound and lasting influence on Americans' ideas about themselves, their neighbors, and the rest of the world.

The year 2009 marks the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson’s discovery of the majestic river that bears his name. Just in time for this milestone, Douglas Hunter, sailor, scholar, and storyteller, has written the first book-length history of the 1609 adventure that put New York on the map. Hudson was commissioned by the mighty Dutch East India Company to find a northeastern passage over Russia to the lucrative ports of China. But the inscrutable Hudson, defying his orders, turned his ship around and instead headed west....

On Thursday, December 16, 1773, an estimated seven dozen men, many amateurishly disguised as Indians—then a symbol of freedom—dumped about £10,000 worth of tea in the harbor. Whatever their motives at the time, they unleashed a social, political, and economic firestorm that would culminate in the Declaration of Independence two and a half years later.

With this audio, you will learn about Thomas Jefferson through a compilation of original readings and commentary, such as the Declaration of Independence, the Louisiana Purchase, the Lewis and Clark Expedition, the Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom, Jefferson's 10 Canons for Observation in Practical Life, his various correspondence and quotes, details on his presidential campaign, and his first and second Inaugural Address. Also included is an overview of his education and early life.

Sometime between 1610 and 1611, William Shakespeare wrote The Tempest. The idea for the play came from the real-life shipwreck in 1609 of the Sea Venture, which was caught in a hurricane and grounded on the coast of Bermuda during a voyage to resupply England's troubled colony at Jamestown, in present-day Virginia. A lesser known passenger was Stephen Hopkins. During the 10 months the Sea Venture passengers were marooned on Bermuda, Hopkins was charged with trying to incite a mutiny and condemned to die, only to have his sentence commuted moments before it was to be carried out.

Although the first enslaved Africans arrived in Jamestown in 1619, European slavery in America began more than a century before. In a work distinguished not only by its original research but by its “passionate prose” (James F. Brooks), historian Linford Fisher demonstrates how the...

A gripping story of a family tragedy brought about by witch-hunting in Puritan New England that combines history, anthropology, sociology, politics, theology and psychology. “The best and most enjoyable kind of history writing. Malcolm Gaskill goes to meet the past on its own terms and in its...

A book about a tiny island with a huge history, from a New York Times bestselling author of the forthcoming book, Valiant Ambition (May 2016) “For everyone who loves Nantucket Island this is the indispensable book.” —Russell Baker In his first book of history, Away Off Shore, New York...

Explore US history, key events, and influential figures with this engaging, fact-filled introduction to American history, from the founding era to modern times. The stories of politicos and historic events are often turned into snooze-worthy lectures that even Benjamin Franklin would reject...

"Vivid and remarkably fresh...Philbrick has recast the Pilgrims for the ages." --The New York Times Book Review Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in history New York Times Book Review Top Ten books of the Year How did America begin? That simple question launches the acclaimed author of Bunker Hill...

A relationship takes work, compromise and trust in one another. But in order to make it a special relationship, a little more diplomacy may be required… When it came to Charles and Mary Bagot, the gossips of Regency England had more than their fill. The marriage, initially the toast of high...

In the bestselling tradition of Rinker Buck’s The Oregon Trail and Tony Horwitz’s Confederates in the Attic, The Road That Made Americais a lively, epic account of one of the greatest untold stories in our nation’s history—the eight-hundred-mile long Great Wagon Road that 18th-century...

**Winner of the Barondess/Lincoln Award** **Winner of the Lincoln Group of New York's Award of Achievement** From acclaimed Abraham Lincoln historian Harold Holzer, a groundbreaking account of Lincoln’s grappling with the politics of immigration against the backdrop of the Civil War. In the...

The bestselling author of In the Heart of the Sea, Mayflower, and In the Hurricane's Eye tells the story of the Boston battle that ignited the American Revolution, in this "masterpiece of narrative and perspective." (Boston Globe) In the opening volume of his acclaimed American Revolution series...

From the two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, a fresh, authoritative history that recasts our thinking about America’s founding period. The American Revolution is often portrayed as a high-minded, orderly event whose capstone, the Constitution, provided the ideal framework for a democratic...

The voyage of the Mayflower and the founding of Plymouth Colony is one of the seminal events in world history. But the poorly equipped group of English Puritans who ventured across the Atlantic in the early autumn of 1620 had no sense they would pass into legend. They had 80 casks of butter and two dogs but no cattle for milk, meat, or ploughing. They were ill prepared for the brutal journey and the new land that few of them could comprehend.

An acclaimed historian presents a sweeping new look at the Declaration of Independence, focusing not on the lofty principles of the preamble but on the list of grievances leveled against King George III.

This captivating narrative brings the American Revolution to life through the perspectives of its many participants, both celebrated and unsung. Featuring imagined interviews with key figures like George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and King George III, alongside Native American leaders, European allies, and everyday civilians, the book offers an immersive, multifaceted exploration of the war that shaped a nation. Dive into the complexities of the era as historical figures share their thoughts, struggles, and triumphs in a unique conversational style that bridges past and present.

Historian Alejandra Dubcovsky tells a story of war, slavery, loss, remembrance, and the women whose resilience and resistance transformed the colonial South. In exploring their lives she rewrites early American history, challenging the established male-centered narrative.

Step into history and relive the exhilarating saga of the American Revolution. Experience the thrill of rebellion, the birth of a nation, and the courage that ignited change. This meticulously crafted book brings to life the riveting battles, visionary leaders, and the spirit that forged the United States.