The Birth of America

Starred review from January 9, 2006
Although Polk's book contains little new information about early American history, he synthesizes a dazzling social history of early America. Polk reveals an evolving land at the mercies of various foreign governments, each with startlingly different visions of how to use the New World. The Spanish, for example, were less concerned with grabbing land than the British; Spanish explorers conquered small parts of America in order to establish sugar plantations worked by the enslaved native inhabitants. Polk paints the diversity of life among precolonial Native Americans as well as the African roots of black slaves; these cultural specifics give his history a human touch. His gripping account of the dangers of the transatlantic crossing—darkness between decks, filth, vermin—reminds us forcefully of the fears and risks that accompanied the hope of starting over in a new world. He likens the colonies to a daughter growing up and growing apart from her mother during the later 17th century as the colonies developed their own governments, industries and militias. Polk, an independent historian (The Elusive Peace
), is a masterful storyteller who takes us into a strange world and helps us to understand it. 11 b&w illus., 6 maps.