The History of the Five Indian Nations Depending on the Province of New-York in America: A Critical Edition

Colden was among the most learned American men of his time, and his history of the Iroquois tribes makes fascinating reading. New essays by John M. Dixon, “Imperial Politics, Enlightenment Philosophy, and Transatlantic Print Culture”“The History of the Five Indian Nations remains an invaluable font of information for understanding the Iroquois during the decades before European invaders began to pour into the Longhouse. "How should we approach The History of the Five Indian Nations today? The book's informationrich as it isshould be critically interrogated and placed in social, political, and cultural context. The book reflects the outlook of a colonial British agent and, in a more general sense, of early modern European and Euro-American culture. It illuminates internal and external political dynamics as well as the extent and limits of European colonial power. The new Critical Edition features materials not previously included, such as the 1747 introduction, which contains rich and detailed descriptions of Iroquois culture, government, economy, and society. Colden did not necessarily comprehend the cultural logic that guided Iroquois people, but he appreciated them as agentsremarkably audacious onesin the affairs of all of eastern

It has been well known to historians, but Colden's interests were broad and went beyond political and international history; he considered the Indians' sociological, anthropological, and cultural aspects as well."Ethnography. "No collection pretending an interest in Indian or Colonial affairs should be without this contemporary account."Library Journal"The reprinting of Colden's famous History is an important event for everyone concerned with the study of the American Indian, for it was the first comprehensive examination of the Iroquois by an Englishman

Poor facsimile K. N. Emsden THis is a grand book but the edition was illegible with no indication in the advertisement. I am still looking for a usable copy for research. Fine if you want to see 17th century printing and don't care about the text. Not good indication of this fault.

Dixon is Assistant Professor of History at the College of Staten Island/CUNY. Tiro is Professor and Chair in the Department of History at Xavier University. He is the author ofThe Enlightenment of Cadwallader Colden: Empire, Science, and Intellectual Culture in British New York.Karim M. . He is the author of The People of the Standing Stone: The Oneida Nation from the Revolution through the Era of Removal and editor ofAlong