"This is a very effective textbook on early American history. It is thorough and conventional, yet up-to-date and concise. It contains relevant maps, contemporary illustrations, chronologies, documents and suggestions for further reading. As well as examining the development of the colonies from their earliest settlement to maturity in the eighteenth century, there are discussions of the colonial impact on American Indian culture, the changing role of women, the beginnings of slavery and the development of political and social structures." Richard Brown, Teaching History
"A well-written, fluent analysis of the principal events and developments .... he is particularly adept at summarizing the secondary literature to provide succinct, balanced expositions of controversial issues, such as the causes of the Salem witchcraft outbreak or the impact of the Great Awakening. Often these analyses are buttressed by model explanatory footnotes that encourage readers to follow a particular historical debate in greater depth. Other noteworthy features are the remarkably clear and uncluttered maps, the use of contemporary prints and engravings, and the employment of primary source extracts to embellish points made in the text ..... This is a fine book, providing students with an informative and accessible introduction to an increasingly well-trodden field of historical enquiry." History
"Richard Middleton's new edition of Colonial America strikes a splendid balance between political and institutional history and new approaches to social and cultural history. The chapters on families, women, African-Americans, and Native-Americans are models of synthesis and compression, embracing the latest scholarship. The same may be said for the important additional chapters on the coming of American independence. This text deserves a long and successful life in the classroom." Don Higginbotham, Dowd Professor of History, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill