This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact The Epoch Times Reprints.
So many books have been written about the European exploration and conquest of North America that it’s too easy to approach Peter C. Mancall’s newly published “Contested Continent” with an exasperated muttering of “been there, done that.”
But while Mancall is traveling over well-worn subject matter, he is presenting this historic experience with a bold freshness that makes it feel like (pardon the pun) a newly discovered land. Extensively researched and expertly crafted with erudite prose, Mancall’s work effectively reanimates this subject.
The First Americans
Of course, no European can claim to have discovered North America because the continent was already occupied for thousands of years. But appreciating the scope of the pre-contact indigenous societies is difficult. Lacking written languages and the ability to publish their histories, these cultures relied on oral traditions that were often lost.
Phil Hall is the author of 11 books, the host of the syndicated radio talk show “Nutmeg Chatter,” the editor of Weekly Real Estate News, the co-editor of Cinema Crazed, and a writer whose work has appeared in the New York Times, New York Daily News, Hartford Courant, Wired, The Hill, Jerusalem Post, Cowboys & Indians, Film Threat, and Wrestling Inc.
