Americans A Collision of Histories [Paperback]

In this social history, Edward Countryman shows how interactions among America's different ethnic groups have contributed to our sense of nationality. From the earliest settlements along the Atlantic seaboard to the battle over our nation's destiny in the aftermath of the Civil War, Countryman reveals Americans in all their diverse complexity and shows why the very identity of American --forged by the African, the Indian, and the European alike--is what matters.

Edward Countryman, professor of history at Southern Methodist University, is the author ofA People in Revolution: The American Revolution and Political Society in New York, 1760-1790, winner of the Bancroft Prize, andThe American Revolution. He lives in Dallas.

The picture of Americans that emerges in this book is diverse in the best sense. In delineating the contours of the nation's ethnic makeup, Mr. Countryman avoids pat generalizations and political partisanship. he innovatively synthesizes relevant, often unfamiliar information and presents it with disarming directness . . .Americansadmirably provides what we have long needed: a compact, illuminating overview of the intricate strands of early American history. David S. Reynolds, The New York Times Book Review

A useful contribution to you ever changing, ever more complex, understanding of who we are. Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post

With a marvelous and graceful command of detail, Countryman takes us forward through the shared experiences of all . . .Americansstands as the fairest, most sympathetic, most effectively compact synthesis of the nation's ethnic history that anyone has produced. Carlin Romano, The Boston Globe