Wilderness at Dawn: The Settling of the North American Continent

My husband read this book and really enjoyed it. My nephew is interested in learning how America was settled and he was very excited to get this book.

This book is so good that it bears reading and rereading. I wish that I could write as well as the author.

Ted Morgan's "Wilderness at Dawn" is one of the best of a crop of North American colonial histories published since 1990. Rather than a comprehensive history, it is a series of incidents that add up to a very readable whole. Morgan begins with pre-Columbian history and goes on to relate the experiences of the Spanish, French, Dutch, and various flavors of English colonies. One of my favorite stories is how the godly Pilgrims found themselves neighbors to a riotous colony led by one Thomas Morton. Before Miles Standish put their rivals out of business, Morton's drunken crew traded guns and booze to the Indians in exchange for beaver pelts and sexual favors. Anyone who believes history is boring has not read Ted Morgan's and other recent works about the American colonies. The last section of this book addresses the problems of post-Revolutionary War colonization, including chapters about the appalling dangers of trans-Appalachian settlement and about how the Old Northwest was surveyed.

Well told story; just hard to keep up with all the personalities

Thank you so much, Patricia. The book is fabulous.

This thoughtful, well documented and (3rd person) personal accounting of the initial settling of North America is a forgotten part of our cultural foundation which seems to have been ignored by most high school and college history books.

Leafed through book and am very happy with the purchase. Advertised as new and book is in pristine condition.

Not your grammar school history book. Stunning and noteworthy.

I have been reading this only up to 4th chapter so far but it really captured the essence of colonial era without going too details. No boring at all and keep you excited by great story telling!

Firstly .. the book arrived four days early! It is a great, easy, interesting read. Goes beyond the basic dates and names .. features the interesting bits most histories ignore, Highly recommended.

I am three quarters of the way through this extremely informative book. A pleasure to read and I feel now that I have a greater understanding of the American settlement.

brilliant