"In this clearly written volume, Hawke provides enlightening and colorful descriptions of early Colonial Americans and debunks many widely held ass...
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reviews
Nov 22, 2011
Jason
rated it: 
I'm not sure how I should review a book like this. I'm not educated enough to make an offhand evaluation of the writer's arguments, and I don't want to spend the time needed to make this evaluation. I took exhaustive notes because I wanted to record each new fact I learned and each previously-held question Hawke answered for me. So if the amount of notes one takes translates into a letter grade, I would give this book a B; A's are reserved for only the most mind-blowing works of nonfiction, and
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Aug 28, 2011
Rebecca
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I read this book for my AP US History class next year, and I understand why the book was chosen: it is very informative and makes the everyday life of the colonists easily accessible. However, the issues I had with this book made the 180-some pages seem much longer.
First, I felt it was poorly written. The author often misuses commas, and leaves out hyphens and semicolons when they are necessary. He also uses "emigrate" in place of "immigrate" a lot in the first chap More...
First, I felt it was poorly written. The author often misuses commas, and leaves out hyphens and semicolons when they are necessary. He also uses "emigrate" in place of "immigrate" a lot in the first chap More...
Jun 01, 2010
Devon
rated it: 
I've read a few other reviews that say pretty much the same thing I'm about to say, which is this book has some interesting facts, but it could have been researched a little more in depth to find more novel insights into early American life. Much of the information in this book seems to have been culled from the research of other historians, rather than first person sources. That being said, I read this book because I felt there was a gap in my knowledge when it came to this time period, and thi
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Mar 16, 2009
Julia
rated it:
I loved the first person stories in this book during the time period. Somethings are funny no matter what century you live in! The book was very thorough, covering all aspects of colonial live from trees, to the moon, to childrearing. However, the book was short (under 200 pages) and covered a lot of subjects, consequently each subject is short. Maybe there isn't a lot of material on the time period so each subject has to be short, I don't know. I liked learning about early America, not just fur
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Oct 23, 2010
InfoShaman
rated it:
I bought this during my last visit to Old Sturbridge Village, where I spent the day with John, Judy & Maija back in 2002. This is a really well-done popularization of the subject, with a fair amount of myth debunking.
Dec 28, 2008
David
rated it: 
This book was awesome. It'll give you a history boner. I wish I hadn't sold it back to the university bookstore.
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Jun 14, 2009
Justin
rated it:
An interesting book and better than I expected. It manages to cram a lot of fascinating details into a brief volume in an organized, easily understandable manner.
Feb 20, 2011
Gary
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A very good book that got increasingly boring. Its almost like after the fist 100 pages he had nothing else to say, but in order to be comprehensive, kept talking.
Oct 18, 2009
John
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Nice to read a book about the real people who lived in Colonial America without centering on the political world of England. Quick read with some very interesting factual tidbits.
Oct 25, 2008
Linda
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How American colonists lived their lives. Detailed, readable, and valuable information, especially with respect to corrected the misrepresentations of the Colonial Revival movement of the early 20th century.
Jul 15, 2009
Kristopher
rated it:
A concise, quick read of the first 100 years of "America." Hawke dispels some generalizations and throws out some new theories of his own that challenge common perception, but nothing that has shaken the foundation of history. Big topic, little book. Though I keep coming back to it again and a again.
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