Customer Reviews

Diversity & Accommodation

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History in the last several years has taken an elightened turn toward a more interdisciplinary approach to studying the past, incorporating historical geography, anthropology, and archaeology to create fresh interpretations of an already voluminous literature. This is especially true in early North American History, especially in the realm of cultural contact and development.

Puglisi does a fine job compiling this thoughtful series of essays on a subject that has been begging to be adequately researched for over a decade. The Virginia backcountry is often under-represented in the existing literature, partly because adequate historical sources are no longer extant.

To break beyond this obstacle, Puglisi incorporates the work of influential historians, geographers, and archaeologists (Robert Mitchel, Warren Hoftra, Turk McClesky, and Ann McCleary just to name a few) to bring new ways of looking at the backcountry to the forefront. This book is excellent because it paves the way for future research and highlites many of the questions about the Virginia backcountry that require further exploration.

The book includes everything from social history and cultural development, to the role of African Americans and Native Americans, to the slippery concept of community on the frontier.

This work is a "must-have" for academics interested in the frontier and cultural development of the US, and is also accessible to the general reader who maintains a profound interest in the past. I will definitely add it to my personal library!