In Indians & English Kupperman states ...in the New World,"Civility, especially among the lower orders, was fragile, hard won, and shallow rooted; as the poet Edmund Spenser remarked, 'It is but even the other daye, since England grewe Civill (p.219)." Thus many early "civilising" colonists were described as degenerate, and tending towards regression. Extreme measures were taken to promote order in Virginia, in 1610, for example. Fear and strict control were necessary according to informed colonial sources like John Rolfe and Sir Thomas Gates of Virginia. Early colonial reports indicated the belief that Americans (natives) would soon embrace European "civility" and Christianity. Yet duplicity of the colonials was implicit. This expectation of treachery by the early colonists was due to the European's assumptions that society and successful government is based on fear rather than cooperation. Of course, expected treachery begot betrayal. One of the comments reported to have been made by Miantonomi, a Narragansett sachem or chief, of Winthrop was "Did ever friends deal so with friends (p. 236)?" Elaborating on the theme of suspicion and fragmented government, Kupperman writes "At no time was there a single hegemonic voice in the Euramerican population (p. 239)." She demonstrates that European colonists and Native Americans developed a complex history of interactions from the beginning contacts in 1580 to the 1600's. Both viewed the other culture as fully human, she believes. However, problematic interactions may have occurred because of fear of eradication. Indians & English provides a hard look at precolonial stereotypic sources and propaganda, and counters myth in many instances. Painful as the bloody history may be to remember, light shed upon it may release new pathways of understanding and responsibility so needful to this time. Recommended reading for American studies students and others interested in this period of American history.

Nancy Lorraine, Reviewer

This work by Karen Ordahl Kupperman should be required reading for anyone interested in the roots of english "civilization" in the Americas. Kupperman pulls out of the dustbin of the archives the intriguing story of Providence Island, off the coast of central america & in the midst of then-powerful spanish colonies, to elucidate the motives of the puritan founding fathers. By so doing, Kupperman adds greatly to our often stereotyped insights about the differences between the "US" colonies (most notably, Massachusetts & Virginia), and the influence of environment, composition of migrants, & support from the home island. Kupperman also brought to my attention, for the first time in so bold a way, the hooks between the puritan founding class & the englishman who overthrew Charles I & involved themselves, in one way or another, in the administration of Cromwell.

I bought this book because I needed to write a book review for my American History review course. I was expecting to trudge through a hundred and some odd boring pages, but was pleasantly surprised.

It was very well written, and read more like a short novel than a history book. While providing information on the many people involved in the Roanoke adventures, it also reviewed the general socio-economic factors influencing American colonization in general. It really contained a ton of information on American colonization and the European factors behind it, and it presented it in such a way that it told a story, rather than simply jumping from time-period and event to time-period and event! (like many of those so called "textbooks")

The author is a noted authority on the early contacts between Europeans and Native Americans.

Read it, you'll like it.

This book provides a good look at Captain John Smith. Smith, a complex man, led an interesting life -- including neing sold as a slave in Turkey. This book illuminates his tough demeanor, which helped the early colonists survive, but also led to quarrels with them. For those of you who want to know the real Smith -- not the Disney version - this is the place to look.

The definitive work on Smith's writing is Barbour's three volume set, which is expensive and difficult to find (special order on Amazon - $250). That said, Kupperman's work is a useful introduction, arranged in themes she perceives in his works: life and legend, leader of Jamestown, relations with the Indians, interpreter of environment, and advocate of a concept of colonialization. As such the reader does not progress through Smith's writings in the chronological order in which he created them, but there is a cohesiveness which might otherwise be lost if she clung to the actual timeline. No volume of this size could encompass all aspects of this complex, albeit difficult, man, but Kupperman puts the limited space to effective use. I found her introductory essay on Smith to be among the best material I have read on him. If someone had time to read only one thing about Smith, I would recommend these 23 pages. There are some things about the book I wish were better. Kupperman helps the reader with some of the more arcane lingustic artifacts of Tudor English, but I wish she had explained more about the context and references than she did. I also wish she had said more about Smith as a cartographer. His map of the Chesapeake was the definitive map of the region for about 60 years and was copied by the most famous names in cartographic history. His map of the coast of New England were instrumental to further English settlement there, inc. that of the Pilgrims and Puritans. She touches on this but I would like to have heard more. These points aside, however, I found this to be a useful and well written volume.