Customer Reviews

Colonial Living

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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I first read . . . and re-read . . . and re-re-read this book in the late 1960s after discovering it in my junior high school library. I always wished I had a copy for reference and the sheer joy of seeing Tunis's amazingly detailed drawings and reading his well-researched text. Now, after many years, the book is back in print. I highly recommend it (and its companions Colonial Craftsmen and Frontier Living) to anyone interested in how people lived -- and how different types of work was done -- in 17th and 18th century America.

Here in the 21st century, life in 18th century (and before) colonial America is quickly becoming forgotten. Programs on the History Channel (a highly questionable name for the station considering what it shows every night) tend to concentrate more on the latter half of the 20th century than on the previous centuries. It's books like this by Edwin Tunis that keep our colonial heritage alive.
"Colonial Living" covers virtually everything of the everyday lives of our ancestors. From the cities they lived in to furniture to what they ate to heating themselves to modes of travel to occupations to homes to clothing to...well, you get the picture. And speaking of pictures, this book is filled with accurate illustrations drawn by the author himself. Yarnwinders, a jack bed, carding paddles, signs, rooms, men's wigs, bricks, fire scoop, a hay fork - hundreds of excellent drawings.
The text is lively and comprehensive, giving details that compliments the sketches greatly.
It is my understanding that this book was originally written (back in 1957) for the youth market, but if the only thing that separates this book from an 'adult' history book are the illustrations, then I will gladly take this 'kids' book.
A museum in a book, that's what this is.

Team this volume with Tunis's "Frontier Living" (though there's a bit of overlap in the time periods covered) and you'll have a good, sound, easily understood social history of the first 280 years of the USA. As always, his illustrations are clear and detailed and his text well written and easy to follow. If, for whatever reason, you can't visit an actual reconstructed Colonial community, having this book on your shelf is the next best thing. (Much of the information in it can probably be carried forward into the early and mid-19th Century, too.) A classic of its type and one we should all be overjoyed to see back in print.

Edwin Tunis' book recreating early colonial American life is one of teh best books on the subject, providing by illustration and written word a recreation of what life was like during the colonial period for early Americans showing us their homes and their technology.

A must have for anyone interested in this period.

I've read many books on Colonial America, so I didn't expect to glean any additional insights when I picked this up and started to read it. I WAS SO VERY WRONG. I couldn't put it down. Congratulations and kudos to Mr. Tunis for a job well done.

I read this years ago and stumbled upon it while looking up some self-sufficiency info. Magnificent; learned more reading this book than I have in my entire public school education. Several others worth mentioning:

Frontier Living by same author
Colonial Craftsmen - same author
Seasons of America's Past - Sloane
American Yesterday - Sloane.
Must have's all of em.

"Colonial Living" is written and illustrated by Edwin Tunis who has written and illustrated several relating books. He also produced a 145 foot mural depicting the "History if Species."
This is a nice cross over book for those interested in history, every day life in The Thirteen Colonies, and craft tools.

He gives a good overview as it was intended. However there are no real depths or practicality other than an overview. For example the section on food covers a few pages and shows common cooking and eating utensils, but if you want to know how to use them or how the food is prepared you will need a book that goes more into depth. This is not in all cases there is a good page and a half covering the contents and techniques on brick making. Of course I would not want to make one from the information.

This book is a good starting place for information on Colonial Living. You will notice the absents of an index or of a Bibliography.

Frontier Living: An Illustrated Guide to Pioneer Life in America by Edwin Tunis

The illustrations are amazing, detailed, and offer a stunning reference for students of history. It's just a fascinating tour through history, as wonderful now as it was when I first read it years ago. I'm so glad I stumbled over this while rambling through Amazon.