Interpreting a Continent

Interpreting a Continent unleashes a delightful cacophony of voices from colonial North Americans. From rock paintings to Norse sagas, from New France to Spanish Florida, from familiar men like Benjamin Franklin to obscure women like Mary Christina Martin, these source materials—many of them in translations far superior to those previously available—convey the rich textures of a world in which English-speakers were not yet the dominant group and in which no one yet imagined a nation called the United States. No other collection conveys a better appreciation of the complicated mix of peoples and cultures that jostled for power in the colonial world. -- Daniel K. Richter, McNeil Center for Early American Studies, University of Pennsylvania
With insight and grace, the DuVals have collected, translated, and interpreted a dazzling array of documents to illuminate the multicultural origins of North America's colonies, ranging from the St. Lawrence to the Rio Grande, and from the Pacific to the Atlantic. They offer a superb collection of French and Spanish voices from women and men to reveal tales of resistance and conversion, slavery, and freedom. -- Alan Taylor, University of California, Davis