The River Where America Began: A Journey Along the James

Deans begins his absorbing history of life along the James River 15,000 years ago with Paleolithic hunter-gathers, and ends with President Abraham Lincoln taking Jefferson Davis's chair in the Confederate White House. In between, Deans demonstrates how the 340-mile river, stretching through the heart of Virginia, served as the headwaters of American history. The first two-thirds is a richly detailed history of people and events, including the founding of Jamestown in 1607. Deans vividly describes the story of Pocahontas and John Smith, the famines and Indian wars from which only one in six colonists survived, the landing of the first slaves in 1619, the emergence of the planter aristocracy and Virginia's role in leading Americans to independence. This book also details the remarkable 1775 meeting of the Virginia House of Burgesses in Richmond, which was led by the pen (Thomas Jefferson), the sword (George Washington) and the tongue (Patrick Henry) of the Revolution. Anyone with an interest in early American history should appreciate Deans's mix of natural and cultural perspectives.