Review by Choice Review
With reference to the major waves of emigration to America between 1630 and 1775, Fischer (Brandeis) identifies the transfer of four regional British folk cultures: East Anglia to New England; southern England to Virginia; the north Midlands to the Delaware Valley; and the northern Borderlands to the Colonial backcountry. The book is organized according to the four regional immigrations, implying that Fischer bases his parallels strictly on geographical factors, but he later explains his concept of English regionalism as consisting of "broad ethnic, cultural and historical processes." He argues that such factors as religious orientation, social rank, and generational experience, in addition to region of origin, determined the folkways of the various British immigrant groups during the Colonial period, and shaped--in conjunction with the native environment--the synthesis of regional cultures in America. In his detailed analysis, the author covers such indicators as speechways, marriage practices, child-rearing customs, food ways, social order, and many more. Each section of the book provides a remarkably thorough discussion and description of a Colonial regional folk culture. Fischer synthesizes the four experiences to show how they contributed to the development of a general American culture. An invaluable contribution to the study of American society. College, university, and public libraries. -M. J. Puglisi, Emory and Henry College
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review
As the song goes, this could be the start of something big. Fischer, author of Growing Old in America [BKL My 1 77], projects his latest book as the first installment of at least four volumes of a cohesive social history of the U.S. This first volume outlines the importance to this country of its British roots, despite the fact that now only 20 percent of the American populace can claim British ancestry. In brief, the author cites four waves of British immigrants (Puritans to Massachusetts, royalists and indentured servants to Virginia, Welsh and North Midlanders to the Delaware Valley, and North Britons and Northern Irish to Appalachia), who carried four differing folkways that became the basis of our regional cultures and our four freedom strains (ordered, hegemonic, reciprocal, and natural). History on a grand scale that whets the appetite for the remaining volumes. Bibliography and index appended. --Allen Weakland
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review
This cultural history explains the European settlement of the United States as voluntary migrations from four English cultural centers. Families of zealous, literate Puritan yeomen and artisans from urbanized East Anglia established a religious community in Massachusetts (1629-40); royalist cavaliers headed by Sir William Berkeley and young, male indentured servants from the south and west of England built a highly stratified agrarian way of life in Virginia (1640-70); egalitarian Quakers of modest social standing from the North Midlands resettled in the Delaware Valley and promoted a social pluralism (1675-1715); and, in by far the largest migration (1717-75), poor borderland families of English, Scots, and Irish fled a violent environment to seek a better life in a similarly uncertain American backcountry. These four cultures, reflected in regional patterns of language, architecture, literacy, dress, sport, social structure, religious beliefs, and familial ways, persisted in the American settlements. The final chapter shows the significance of these regional cultures for American history up to the present. Insightful, fresh, interesting, and well-written, this synthesis of traditional and more current historical scholarship provides a model for interpretations of the American character. Subsequent volumes of this promised multivolume work will be eagerly awaited. Highly recommended for the general reader and the scholar.-- David Szatmary, Univ. of Washington, Seattle (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
