Between Two Worlds

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY 8 SEPT. 2014

Gaskill (Witchfinders), a professor of early modern history at the University of East Anglia, offers an in-depth look at the experiences of the first three generations of English settlers on the American continent that examines their slow transformation into a new culture. As he states, this is an examination of a "neglected dimension of the history of England: what happened to its people in America, and the effect America had on those who remained at home." Gaskill covers a little less than a century, from 1607 to 1692, a period in which settlers dealt with both culture clash and identity crisis, clinging to old ways even as they were influenced and altered by the frontier, its dangers, and the Native Americans already inhabiting it. Gaskill argues that instead of embracing new identities, "English migrants to America strove to preserve Englishness, and when they did change, the causes were not exclusively American." Meticulously-researched and drawing on a plenitude of original source material, Gaskill's study provides an underrepresented view of early American history. However, the dense nature of this book and its scholarly tone may ward off casual readers it's perfect for serious historians and academics, less so for those needing an accessible entry point to the subject.