The Invasion Within: The Contest of Cultures in Colonial North America (Cultural Origins of North America) [Paperback]

James Axtell (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0195041542 | ISBN-13: 978-0195041545 | Publication Date: November 27, 1986

Colonial North America was not only a battleground for furs and land, but also for allegiances and even souls. In the three-sided struggle for empire, the English and French colonists were locked in heated competition for native allies and religious converts. Axtell sharply contrasts the English efforts to "civilize" the Indians with the French willingness to accept native lifestyles, and reveals why the struggle for control over the continent became a fascinating contest of cultures between shrewd opponents lasting nearly 150 years.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

A remarkable and important ``ethnohistory of the colonial French, English, and Indian efforts to convert each other.'' Covering the same period and terrain as Francis Parkman's France and England in North America (1865-92), Axtell concentrates on social and cultural interaction. He treats French and English missionary efforts extensively, bringing out, with telling examples, the reasons for the relative success of the French Jesuits' adaptive approach. New perspectives are presented in revealing the longstanding English desire to destroy Indian ``pride'' and in detailing the many successful conversions of captive whites to the Indian way of life. Highly recommended for academic, special, and large public libraries. Roy H. Tryon, Delaware State Archives, Dover
Copyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"The best introduction now available to the problem of cultural conversion in the New World."--The New York Times Book Review

"Offers an impressive array of insights."--The Historian

"Axtell is one of the finest practitioners of this history of real persons, and his style makes him one of its most graceful writers."--The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography

"The most ambitious and sophisticated contribution to early American ethnohistory to date."--Alden T. Vaughan, Columbia University, in William and Mary Quarterly

"A stimulating and important contribution to our understandingd of cultural relations in colonial America."--Pacific Historical Review

"[Axtell's] scope, pace, and clarity are unprecedented....Readers new to the field can use this volume as a reliable introduction and guide."--The Catholic Historical Review

"This work summarizes current scholarship regarding many topics. The author focuses on the mutual impact that French, English, and Indian cultures made on each other from earliest contact to the beginning decades of the eighteenth century. He stays largely within the northeast culture area and describes ways in which indigenous tribes confronted Jesuit and Puritan representations of Christian civilization. This synthesis combines broad coverage with balanced judgements to produce a gratifying, solid narrative. It is, moreover, a delight to read....Because its scope, pace, and clarity are unprecedented. It brings disparate voices of the time together in splendid synthesis."--The Catholic Historical Review

"Lucid, packed with detail...the book stands as a provocative study of the psychology and consequences of missionary work, and of the resistance to it."--Times Literary Supplement

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (November 27, 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195041542
• ISBN-13: 978-0195041545
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #573,203 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book, February 3, 2006

By 

Chris Kostov (Ottawa, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Invasion Within: The Contest of Cultures in Colonial North America (Cultural Origins of North America) (Paperback)

Axtell is interested in acculturation and the "imapct the major competing cultures of Eastern North America- English, French, and Indian- had had on each other, especially when they set out consciously to educate or convert their rivals." (p.IX) This book reveals the social and cultural interactions in the norteast of North America. The author rejects the prejudice of the moral superiority of the Europeans over the "savage" Indians and gives a profound account of the cultural interactions and conversions among the English, French, and Indian inhabitants of northeast North America. The English had the weakest cultural impact, according to the author. The French were more flexible and more successful in bringing new converts, but the Indians were the most successful cultural power, concludes Axtell, thanks to their more natural lifestyle and tolerance towards the cultures of the Europeans, who wanted to settle among them.

It's an excellent book that tells the story of Colonial North America from a very interesting angle and it is a definite must for readers interested in social and cultural history of North America.