The Cherokees

In War and at Peace 1670 -1840

by

Narrated by DeLanna Studi

English language

Published by Harvard University Press.

ISBN:
978-0-674-25820-4
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(2 reviews)

A sweeping new history reveals how the Cherokees became a nation as they navigated a century and a half of intertribal conflicts and colonial expansion that threatened their way of life.

For more than 150 years between their first encounters with the English in the 1670s and forced removal along the Trail of Tears, the Cherokees negotiated mounting pressures. As their world was convulsed by the spread of European diseases, competition for guns, furs, and deerskins, and imperial powers’ unrelenting pursuit of “savage” allies, Cherokee communities responded by creating new solidarities. At the dawn of the eighteenth century, the idea of unity among the widely dispersed Cherokees would scarcely have occurred to their leaders. A century later, chiefs would declare unequivocally that they stood for the whole Cherokee nation.

2 editions

reviewed The Cherokees by David Narrett

A Western-Focused History

This is an expensive dive into the evolution of the relationship between the Cherokee nation, colonists, and European powers. By pulling together a wide variety of sources, Narrett demonstrates how the deft political maneuvering of the Cherokees, combined with strategic military interventions, fundamentally shaped the developments of all parties enmeshed in North America. The big knock against this book is the glaring absence of any insight into the Cherokee tribe itself except through their interactions with Western parties. From this perspective I think the book is mistitled, but viewed as an international military and political history it's still insightful. Highly recommend

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Subjects

  • History
  • North America
  • Indigenous History
  • Native Americans
  • Cherokee History
  • American History

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