Description:
"A scarifying, blood-soaked portrait of savagery on the early frontier--much of it committed by European settlers . . . superb."--Kirkus Reviews (starred)
An acclaimed historian captures the true nature of imperialism in early America, demonstrating how the frontier shaped the nation.
Brief description: Robert G. Parkinson is professor of history at Binghamton University. He is the author of The Common Cause, Thirteen Clocks, and Heart of American Darkness. He lives in Charles Town, West Virginia.
Review Quotes: In the American imagination, the idea of the frontier looms large as the prime shaper of our nation's character. But what actually happened on the frontier, and what does it say about the substance of American character? Robert G. Parkinson's Heart of American Darkness is a brilliant meditation on those questions. The book presents the often-brutal reality of life on the frontier through the eyes of Indigenous people and the Europeans whom they encountered in the forests and on the rivers of the Ohio River Valley region, the early frontier. This book is a vital contribution to our understanding of our country's beginnings and who we are.--Annette Gordon-Reed, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and author of On Juneteenth