Synopses & Reviews
In their introduction to Virginia Reconsidered, Kevin Hardwickand Warren Hofstra note that Virginia's history is powerfully situated, in both thepopular and the scholarly imagination. Even recalling only a handful of the manymemorable figures and events of Virginia history -- George Washington, StonewallJackson, Patrick Henry's declamation at St. John's Church -- it is difficult todisagree. But Virginia Reconsidered, a richly diverse and innovative collection ofpioneering essays, goes beyond simply recounting the exploits of famous figures orthe major turning points in the state's history. Probing deep currents of historicalchange and the revealing experiences of lesser-known Virginians, the fourteen essaysoffer teachers and general readers a fuller approach to Virginia's history, one thatgives important context to the state's disparate people and events. Darrett B. andAnita H. Rutman's essay on seventeenth-century Middlesex County, for example, details the decades-long effort of men like Arthur Nash to buy land and the struggleof subsequent generations to make the land into viable farms. This essay providesboth a tale of economic independence and a history of early Virginia landdevelopment in miniature. Woody Holton explores the aspirations of enslavedVirginians during the revolutionary crisis, and demonstrates the connections betweentheir hopes and actions and the decision of Virginia's planters to declareindependence from Great Britain. Essays like Holton's investigate the fascinatingbut forgotten corners of Virginia history that are indeed its truefoundation
o Stephen V. Ash, University ofTennessee, Knoxville
o Fred Arthur Bailey, AbileneChristian University
o Thomas E. Buckley, S.J., Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley/ Graduate Theological Union
o Gregory Michael Dorr, University ofAlabama
o J. Frederick Fausz, University ofMissouri, St. Louis
o Elna C. Green, FloridaState University
o Jack P. Greene, Johns HopkinsUniversity
o Kevin R. Hardwick, James MadisonUniversity
o Warren R. Hofstra, ShenandoahUniversity
o Woody Holton, University ofRichmond
o Deborah A. Lee, George Mason University
o Jan Lewis, Rutgers University, Newark
o Edmund S. Morgan, Yale University, Emeritus
o the late Anita H.Rutman
o the late Darrett B.Rutman
o J. Douglas Smith, OccidentalCollege
o Elizabeth R. Varon, WellesleyCollege