Nature & History in the Potomac Country: From Hunter-Gatherers to the Age of Jefferson, Paperback

James D. Rice's fresh study of the Potomac River basin begins with a mystery. Why, when the whole of the region offered fertile soil and excellent fishing and hunting, was nearly three-quarters of the land uninhabited on the eve of colonization? Rice wonders how the existence of this no man's land influenced nearby Native American and, later, colonial settlements. Did it function as a commons, as a place where all were free to hunt and fish? Or was it perceived as a strange and hostile wilderness?

Rice discovers environmental factors at the center of the story. Making use of extensive archaeological and anthropological research, as well as the vast scholarship on farming practices in the colonial period, he traces the region's history from its earliest known habitation. With exceptionally vivid prose, Rice makes clear the implications of unbridled economic development for the forests, streams, and wetlands of the Potomac River basin. With what effects, Rice asks, did humankind exploit and then alter the landscape and the quality of the river's waters?

Equal parts environmental, Native American, and colonial history, Nature and History in the Potomac Country is a useful and innovative study of the Potomac River, its valley, and its people.

James D. Rice's fresh study of the Potomac River basin begins with a mystery. Why, when the whole of the region offered fertile soil and excellent fishing and hunting, was nearly three-quarters of the land uninhabited on the eve of colonization? Rice discovers environmental factors at the center of the story. Making use of extensive archaeological and anthropological research, as well as the vast scholarship on farming practices in the colonial period, he traces the region's history from its earliest known habitation. With exceptionally vivid prose, Rice makes clear the implications of unbridled economic development for the forests, streams, and wetlands of the Potomac River basin.

Equal parts environmental, Native American, and colonial history, Nature and History in the Potomac Country is a useful and innovative study of the Potomac River, its valley, and its people.

A well-executed regional history that serves as a powerful example of the necessity of environmental history focused on the intimate details of both natural and cultural landscapes.--Virginia Magazine of History and Biography

Scholars of Indian history, environmental history, early American history, and anyone who wants to take a fresh look at this area of the country will appreciate this fine book.--Maryland Historical Magazine

This refreshing book should serve as a model for future studies of colonial America.--Journal of American History

This well-written important new book--persuasively argued and firmly rooted in the evidence--deserves a wide readership among students of early America, and it might just help to push the field in a welcome new direction.--Journal of Interdisciplinary History

Innovative and vividly written, this important book provides a fine example of a new, more comprehensive approach to the study of the colonial experience.--Journal of Southern History

Rice's account is an absorbing history, elegantly told.--Choice

James D. Rice is a professor of history at Tufts University. He is the author of Tales from a Revolution: Bacon's Rebellion and the Transformation of Early America.

James D. Rice is a professor of history at Tufts University. He is the author of Tales from a Revolution: Bacon's Rebellion and the Transformation of Early America.