Historical Archaeology demonstrates the potential of adopting a flexible, encompassing definition of historical archaeology which involves the study of all societies with documentary evidence. It encourages research that goes beyond the boundaries between prehistory and history. Ranging in subject matter from Roman Britain and Classical Greece, to colonial Africa, Brazil and the United States, the contributors present a much broader range of perspectives than is currently the trend.
A New History of Ireland is the largest scholarly project in modern Irish history. In 9 volumes, it provides a comprehensive new synthesis of modern scholarship on every aspect of Irish history and prehistory, from the earliest geological and archaeological evidence, through the Middle Ages, down to the present day. Volume II opens with a character study of medieval Ireland and a panoramic view of the country c.1169, followed by nineteen chapters of narrative history, with a survey of `Land and People, c.1300'. There are further chapters on Gaelic and colonial society, economy and trade, literature in Irish, French, and English, architecture and sculpture, manuscripts and illuminations, and coinage.
Thomas Stukeley was one of the most colourful characters of the Elizabethan age, whose exploits as mercenary, pirate, forger, colonial adventurer, political advisor, diplomat and traitor brought him fame and notoriety throughout Europe. In this new biography, Professor Tazon makes extensive use of previously neglected documents from British, Spanish and Italian archives to produce a much more rounded and complete portrait of Stukeley and the events in which he participated. He portrays Stukeley as a real figure, urging the reader to view in parallel English, Spanish, Irish and wider European history.
Often compared unfavorably with colonial New England, the early Chesapeake has been portrayed as irreligious, unstable, and violent. In this important new study, James Horn challenges this conventional view and looks across the Atlantic to assess the enduring influence of English attitudes, values, and behavior on the social and cultural evolution of the early Chesapeake. Using detailed local and regional studies to compare everyday life in English provincial society and the emergent societies of the Chesapeake Bay, Horn provides a richly textured picture of the immigrants' Old World backgrounds and their adjustment to life in America. Until the end of the seventeenth century, most settlers in Virginia and Maryland were born and raised in England, a factor of enormous consequence for social development in the two colonies. By stressing the vital social and cultural connections between England and the Chesapeake during this period, Horn places the development of early America in the context of a vibrant Anglophone transatlantic world and suggests a fundamental reinterpretation of New World society.
For half a century David Beers Quinn wrote on the history of the early relationship between England and North America. This volume was presented in tribute to his meticulous and authoritative but cautious scholarship, on the occasion of his 85th birthday. It includes his "Reflections" on a lifetime of research, and his bibliography. But his interests in the early period of "the expansion of Europe" have never been limited to England or North America, and this volume accordingly takes as its theme the widest historical context of the subject and period, the whole European outthrust and encounter, in its first phase. Ten contributions by recognized scholars provide select exemplars, to serve as a stimulating introduction to this vast theme. Three overview essays deal with specific regions of the outthrust, chosen because of differences in outcome: Ethiopia, the Far East, and Siberia. The remaining essays consider specific episodes in localities ranging from Guayana to China, and their discursive echoes, and are essentially concerned with a leading feature of David Quinn’s scholarship, the discovery, examination and interpretation of sources. A preliminary essay discusses the theme and links the various contributions within a framework of critical generalization.
Shedding new light on British expansion in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, this collection of essays examines how the first British Empire was received and shaped by its subject peoples in Scotland, Ireland, North America, and the Caribbean. An introduction surveys British imperial historiography and provides a context for the volume as a whole. The essays focus on specific ethnic groups -- Native Americans, African-Americans, Scotch-Irish, and Dutch and Germans -- and their relations with the British, as well as on the effects of British expansion in particular regions -- Ireland, Scotland, Canada, and the West Indies. A conclusion assesses the impact of the North American colonies on British society and politics. Taken together, these essays represent a new kind of imperial history -- one that portrays imperial expansion as a dynamic process in which the oulying areas, not only the English center, played an important role in the development and character of the Empire. The collection interpets imperial history broadly, examining it from the perspective of common folk as well as elites and discussing the clash of cultures in addition to political disputes. Finally, by examining shifting and multiple frontiers and by drawing parallels between outlying provinces, these essays move us closer to a truly integrated story that links the diverse ethnic experiences of the first British Empire. The contributors are Bernard Bailyn, Philip D. Morgan, Nicholas Canny, Eric Richards, James H. Merrell, A. G. Roeber, Maldwyn A. Jones, Michael Craton, J. M. Bumsted, and Jacob M. Price.
In the seventeenth century, riots, rebellions, and revolts flared around Europe. Concerned about their internal stability, many states responded by closely observing the violent upheavals that plagued their neighbors. Rebellion and Diplomacy in Early Modern Europe investigates how in this struggle for intelligence about internal discord, diplomats emerged as key information brokers and interpreters of Europe’s tumultuous political landscape. The contributions in this volume uncover how diplomatic actors interacted with rulers, opposition leaders, informers, media entrepreneurs, and different audiences in their efforts to understand, communicate, and draw lessons from the insurrections in their time. Rebellion and Diplomacy also examines how diplomats actively tried to shape the course of internal conflicts by managing the dissemination of news, supporting political factions at their court of residence, and even instigating violence. Covering different European regions from the Iberian Peninsula to Scandinavia and from the British Isles to the Carpathian Basin, the book will appeal to all students and researchers interested in early modern diplomacy, politics, and news cultures.
First published in 1974, England and the Discovery of America places the early explorations of the English in North America in the broad context of 15th and 16th century history. Marshalling evidence that cannot be pushed aside and sifting a mass of fascinating detail (including problems of cartography and the Vinland Map controversy), Professor Quinn presents circumstantial indications pointing to 1481 as the date or the discovery of America by Bristol voyagers – fishermen seeking new sources of cod, and merchant sailors with maps carrying promise of unexploited Atlantic islands. Whereas England did little to follow up her early lead, Quinn demonstrates that English initiatives from the 1580s onward, though slow, were of great importance. He brings to life the men involved in a variety of rash and heroic experiments in colonization and casts new light on their fates. He makes it clear that it was this very profusion of trial and error and trail again, as well as the conviction that settlement in temperate latitudes in North America could be effective if tenaciously enough sought, that enabled the English to strike and maintain routes in their new American world. This book will be of interest to students of English history, American history, colonial history and naval history.
