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Reviews: (3)
Kirkus Review
The first in a projected three-volume exploration of America in a geographic context. The trilogy will ultimately span a 500-year period beginning with Columbus' travels. The unifying strand that weaves its way through this large volume is the violence with which various groups, settlers, and explorers usurped the rights and properties of natives in the continual westward trek. Where orthodox histories concentrate on the growth and dynamism of the American pioneer, Meinig sees violent collisions, ""with victors and victims."" The emphasis here, too, is on American regionalism--particularly on how so many diverse European, African, and native Indians could establish so many tight regional entities. Meinig is to be commended for the broad, Braudelian sweep that he undertakes here. America, usually seen in isolation, is pictured as part of a triptych encompassing Canada and South America, with itself in the middle. History on a grand scale. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Choice Review
The historical geography of North America has been yearning for reinterpretation for the last 20 years. Ralph H. Brown's classic Historical Geography of the United States (1948) was the last significant attempt at an overall synthesis. Meinig (Syracuse), an eminent historical geographer, provides this reinterpretation within a startling new conceptual framework. Bringing together historical research of the last 40 years and the perceptual orientation of contemporary geography, Meinig directs our attention to the historical geography of North America within the context of an Atlantic world. The evolution of regions within North America is seen as a logical outgrowth of conditions in Europe, Africa, South America, and North America itself. The flow of people, goods, and, most important, ideas through and around this Atlantic world shapes and fashions the human experiences and landscapes of eastern North America. Thought-provoking maps and diagrams illustrate this grand conceptualization. This book, and the two volumes to follow, are bound to be prized possessions for all students and scholars of the historical geography of North America.-A.J. Lamme III, University of Florida
Library Journal Review
These two volumes herald important new interpretations of America's development. Both are the first of projected multivolume efforts by distinguished scholars. Bailyn will cover the period 1500 to the Industrial Revolution, and Meinig will deal with the years 1492 to 1990. The volumes reviewed here cover roughly the same time period. They are complementary, portraying early America in a larger context, as an outpost of civilization and subject to continual change in these formative years. Bailyn sketches the main themes of his series. ``Peopling'' is used in its broadest sense, making reference to old country mobility, its ``spillover'' to America, America's highly differentiated settlement, and the importance of labor scarcity and land speculation in creating ``the powerful American magnet.'' Bailyn views this early America as an exotic ``Western borderland world of Britain,'' combining ``primitivism'' (e.g., Indian wars and slavery) and ``progressive civilization.'' Meinig's work differs considerably from Bailyn's in scope and approach, going well beyond British North America and employing a geographer's perspective to explore ``social and cultural patterns.'' In doing this, Meinig ably proves that geography has been seriously ``undervalued'' in the study of America's development. Especially noteworthy is Meinig's major theme that America has been ``created by massive aggression against a long succession of peoples.'' Both books are very highly recommended for academic and large public libraries. Roy H. Tryon, Delaware State Archives, Dover (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.