History of Delaware [Hardcover]

John A. Munroe (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1993

Originally undertaken by the author as a Bicentennial project in 1975, and now the standard history of the state, this volume chronicles the history of Delaware from the early 1600s to the present.

--This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

John A. Munroe was H. Rodney Sharp Professor of History at the University of Delaware. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: University of Delaware Press; 3rd edition (April 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0874134935
• ISBN-13: 978-0874134933
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,436,394 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good one volume history of the First State, January 16, 1999

By 

Wayne A. Smith (Newark, DE) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: History of Delaware (Hardcover)

Dr. Munroe has written an excellent one volume history of Delaware. He weaves political, economic and social history together in an interesting fashion that explains Delaware's unique character and happenings. For Delaware natives and afficionados, this is probably as good a background as there is on the First State.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good introduction, February 11, 2005

By 

Ian P. Burns - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: History of Delaware (Hardcover)

A good introduction to the history of Delaware. It covers the entire history to the present. For the majority of the book, it is told in a linear fashion. Toward the end of the book, present day, it picks a topic and discusses it across a longer time frame.

As it is written by a professor at the University of Delaware, I was expecting a more comprehensive, intensive, scholarly history; something with footnotes and more detail.

If you are looking for something to read that is enjoyable than this is a great book. It is well researched but not to the depth that I expected.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A good place to be, July 27, 2009

By 

William Whipple III (Middletown, Delaware) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: History of Delaware (Hardcover)

The subject of this book is somewhat prosaic, but John Munroe (a professor of history at the University of Delaware) makes the most of it. This book covers the history of Delaware from the earliest European settlers (Dutch, Swedish and English) up to the present (2006 cutoff).

Some of the ground covered was familiar, but I appreciated being straightened out on the details. Not being a native Delawarean, for instance, I had gotten Caesar Rodney's ride to Philadelphia (to sign the Declaration of Independence) mixed up with Delaware's claim to be "the first State" (based on when it ratified the Constitution).

Other parts of the story were basically new to me, and in some cases surprising. Among the revelations: (1) the extent of changes in the Delaware economy over the years, as various industries rose and fell; (2) several rewrites of the Delaware state constitution resulting from demographic changes and shifting political alignments; and (3) the reversing party polarity of the state. (Today, New Castle County is heavily Democratic, while Kent and Sussex Counties are Republican, but a century ago this relationship was reversed.)

Withal, it seems that Delaware has been a middle of the road kind of place over the years - and not necessarily in the forefront of change (the state voted for Herbert Hoover in 1932). Suits me!