American Colonial History

March 15, 2016

Using the overlapping themes of religion and war, Kidd (history, Baylor Univ.; The Great Awakening) traces the developments of the colonies in Central and North America from European contact in 1492 through the conclusion of the Seven Years' War in 1763. The book is organized in chapters that focus on each region and its colonizers in turn (e.g., Mexico and New Mexico by the Spanish; Canada by the French) and highlights major interactions with native peoples. Later chapters detail developments that affected multiple regions including the Glorious Revolution, which handed the British throne to the Protestant cause in 1688, and the First Great Awakening, an Evangelical revival that had long-lasting impacts on religious thought. Each chapter is accompanied by a handful of primary-source documents. Those focusing on Indian religions are particularly compelling, while others addressing the breadth of Indian slavery, a topic gaining greater scholarly attention, demonstrate this work's currency. VERDICT This fine, up-to-date survey of the peoples of the post-Columbian Americas, from European contact to the Revolutionary period, is best suited to interested undergraduates or as a core text for courses on the subject.--Evan M. Anderson, Kirkendall P.L., Ankeny, IA

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