Customer Reviews

Wilderness at Dawn: The Settling of the North American Continent

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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.

Breathtaking approach to a well known subject. History from the people's viewpoint. No dull dates, battles, generals, presidents; but living, breathing stories by and of the most unique and most common. Must also read Shovel of Stars, the sequel (also 10)

Reading these first person accounts of day-to-day and moment-to-moment life in pre-Colonial America gave me such an appreciation for what our predecessors went through to make our country the great one it is today. This is the book our children should read in their American history classes. Exceptionally well-written, with a "you are there" feel to it. Makes me want to learn more about the young George Washington after reading about his escape from the center of the freezing river. Well-written, entertaining and informative. I'm lapsing into cliches, but this book is a MUST READ. Just brilliant. You'll admire the everyday people who built our country one day at a time, and never tire of reading about their adventures. I hated to see it end, so thank God there's a sequel!

Ted Morgan's Wilderness At Dawn brings early North American history to life. Morgan's vibrant narrative moves beyond historical facts to make you feel that you are there. Wilderness at Dawn covers North America's prehistoric period through European exploration and settlement. It examines how various cultural groups affected and were affected by North America. The book is also more balanced than most in its coverage of the highly sophisticated (but often neglected) early Native American cultures. Absolutely the best damn read of any kind I've had in a long time

Wilderness at Dawn provides a fascinating account of the experiences of men and women in the settling of North America from the arrival of the first inhabitants crossing the Bering Strait land bridge up to the eve of the U.S. Civil War. Life on the frontier, as it moved from the coasts inward and westward, is told compellingly as if the reader were there experiencing the events. More than just an account of European colonization, the book considers the lives of all of North America's inhabitants with an even-handed approach. As an Ohioan, I found the accounts of Ohio's transformation from frontier to "hinterland" particularly interesting. All Americans should find this book useful in understanding the early history of our country.

My two biggest complaints about this book is the lack of devoted material to the slave trade and the flow of story lines. I bought the book expecting to read more from the slaves perspectives, even the "Black Frontier" section is not convincing in my opinion, especially given the primary sources available. Even though the book lacked black perspectives, I continued reading the material and found it very difficult to do so, largely due to the writer's style. Ted Morgan is obviously a great historian, however this book is more of a survey of the continental settlement and not for everyone.

This very fine history of North America covers 10,000 or so years of exploration and settlement all in one volume. It is written in a clear, concise prose, and although it is loaded with facts and anecdotes it is never dry. Morgan starts out by describing the peopling of North America via the Bering land bridge. Then he moves into the stories of the European explorers and early settlers, and how they deal with the Native Americans. After many hardships and failures, the Spanish end up with permanent settlements in the south, the French in the north and the English on the Atlantic Coast. Morgan then describes the emergence of the Americans and how they eventually dominate the continent and displace Europeans and Native Americans alike.

I highly recommend this if you enjoy American history.

Beginning with the passage of people across the Bering Strait, Wilderness at Dawn : The Settling of the North American Continent takes us through the westward expansion of the United States. Carefull attention is given to the Spanish, French and British influences on the American way of life. An excellent and concise reference for anyone interested in North American History. Easy to read, and full of real life history