Indigenous Continent
The Epic Contest for North America

An astonishing new book! The main myth that the book refutes is that in colonial American the Indians were just a sideshow. Author Hämäläinen shows that, in fact, it was the indigenous populations who were in charge most of the time. Therefore the book fills in many gaps left in the standard America......more

Comprehensive Account of Indigenous Powers in the Americas The best part of the book is found in the first chapters. The main point the author drives home with multiple examples is that the American continents were not unoccupied when Europeans arrived from 1492 to the 1600s. In fact, the European co......more

This book turns much of what has been taught and understood about American history and specifically the role of Native Americans in that history on its head. Instead of the usual fare served up of the discovery of a new world open for exploration and claiming as one's own, it presents a picture of t......more

Good history, oversold the thesis. Hämäläinen can't disguise that A) Colonial numbers were overwhelming (generally by about a factor of 10 no matter the theater) B) Indigenous victories were temporary in the face of expanding U.S. hegemony. Yes, the U.S. routinely claimed lands they weren't really i......more

It has become something of a truism that history books are written by the winners. In this book Pekka Hamalainen (I apologize for not having a keyboard that allows me to put the little dots above his As") provides a narrative that while not written by the indigenous peoples of North America, certain......more