Rating: 
Summary: Any one with Puritan roots, this book is a must read !
Review: For genealogist who have Puritan roots, this book explains many things of the culture of the Puritains and the New England families of today (especially if your family never removed from New England). Also explains many of the customs unique to New England. For history lovers....g-r-e-a-t book ! You will find many things about our ancestors that you never knew about and the "history" books don't tell you !The book is broken down to chapters with headings for every subject which makes the book a pleasure to read. The author gets right to the point of the subject with detail but not overloaded with unnecessary information . I am ordering his all of his books that he has written so far.
Rating:
Summary: Encapsulates in a good read the development of our country.
Review: This fascinating view of the development of British North America, covers all facets of life beginning in the early 1600's in Massachusetts, Virginia, Delaware and the Backcountry. Settlers came to the New World bringing with them who they were and how they lived in their place of origination as foundation for life in the New World. The author has encapsulated his research in a good read. Drawings, maps and tables enhance the research and conclusions and make this an invaluable resource for the student of cultural and anthropological origins in the early development of British North America. A "window and door opener" for genealogical reseach. A must for one's library.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best works of U.S. history in years
Review: At a time when so-called "professional" historians are doing mental gymnastics to find "multicultural" and other politically correct interpretations of U.S. history (the Iroquois Confederacy as model for the Federalist Papers, etc. etc.), David Hackett Fischer brings us back to reality by showing just how pervasive has been the influence of the earliest British colonists---far more pervasive, in fact, than most of us had imagined, covering everything from political and legal institutions on the one hand to modes of play and styles of domestic architecture on the other. A simply magisterial work of historical synthesis that every American citizen---of whatever race or ethnicity---should read and ponder. The first in a projected series on the cultural history of America, this whets one's appetites for the others.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent colonial history of earliest English settlers
Review: Anyone seriously interested in the earliest English settlers to America should read this book. By comparing the four groups (Virginians, Puritans, Quakers, Back Country) on a wide range of social characteristics, such as child rearing, educational values, work ethic, status of women, and so forth, Mr. Fischer begins to explain regional differences that still persist. Most importantly, he explains how these differing cultures helped nurture our democratic system. A BRAVO for this book.
Rating:
Summary: Indepth discussion of early British colonies in America!
Review: David Hackett Fischer takes a new approach to the study of the four main English groups settling colonial America: Puritans from East Anglia to Massachusetts, Royalist Elite from south England to Virginia, Friends from the North Midlands to the Delaware Valley and North Brits to the "American backcountry." He presents his view as a link between past and present thinking. This approach is especially appreciated by family historians, desiring a a better view into the hearts and minds of their forefathers. Some of the topics include: religious origins, the colonial mood, speech, building, gender, sex, children, death, magic ways, food, sports, time, work, wealth,rank, power. This book has maps, illustrations, and SO MUCH information, you'll want to own this for easy reference! DearMYRTLE Daily Genealogy Columnist Genealogy Forum on America Online Keyword: dearmyrtle
Rating:
Summary: a fascinating study of regional differences in the U.S.
Review: This is the most interesting book I have read in the last 20 years! Anyone with any interest in regional differences or U.S. history and culture will love it. So will anyone who has ever wondered why their in-laws from another part of the country are so strange in so many ways.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding organization, content, and summary tables.
Review: An amazing book, 800+ pages and easy to read and and to reference. A real tour-de-force. The best descriptions and analysis of the early English migrations to the our country. I hope that the aiuthor will continue his work and broaden the scope and time frame of this book!
Rating:
Summary: A fascinating account of cultural inheritance
Review: I read this while working on my MA in History. Fischer provides a thorough and fascinating account of how four distinctive British folkways reproduced themselves in America, as expressed in place names, building styles, cooking, social structure, and even such obscure matters as when children were born. It certainly opened my eyes to how effectively culture perpetuates itself, even 3000 miles away from its roots. I strongly recommend it. I would especially recommend it for its examination of Puritan culture, which has been unfairly depicted by novelists like Nathaniel Hawthorne.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful information on colonial culture
Review: As an anthropologist specializing in colonial behaviors, I found this book to be not only chock full of information, but a delight to read. Although I found many of the illustrations to be ..well..peculiar and strange, the text more than made up for it. If you are interested in early colonial history or anthropology, by all means, buy this book. It is a genuine pleasure to read a book about colonial history that ISN'T boring.
Rating: 
Summary: Compares favorably to the Durants
Review: Fischer has begun for the history of the United States what the Durants did for the history of the world. I have read and reread this book since the first edition. The differences in cultures of the various immigrant groups described are as evident today as they were in the eighteenth century. The only weakness is that Volume 2 has been too long in coming.
| 
