The River Where America Began: A Journey Along the James | 
 enlarge | Author: Bob Deans
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $3.98
You Save: $20.97 (84%)
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Rating:  8 reviews
Sales Rank: 173341
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 224
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6 x 1.1
ISBN: 0742551725
Dewey Decimal Number: 975.54
EAN: 9780742551725
ASIN: 0742551725
Publication Date: March 15, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Condition: Ships immediately! Perfect and New! 2007 Hardcover.
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Product Description
From the establishment of the first permanent English colony at Jamestown in 1607 to the fall of Richmond in 1865, the James River has been instrumental in the formation of modern America. Over the course of the United States' first century, the James River bore witness to the irreconcilable contradiction of a slave-holding nation dedicated to liberty and equality for all. When that intractable conflict ignited civil war, the James River served as a critical backdrop for the bloodiest conflict in U.S. history. As he guides readers through this exciting historical narrative, Deans gives life to a dynamic cast of characters including the familiar Powhatan, John Smith, Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, Benedict Arnold and Robert E. Lee; as well as those who have largely escaped historical notoriety.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
 The River Where America Began : James River June 13, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This history book was very informative. I was born in the area. Very detailed summary of landscape in early times. Well written from political and historical point of view. Easy to comprehend and fully factual. Good book to read more than once.
A must for anyone interested in America's beginnings November 17, 2007
Having just visited Williamsburg, I read The River Where America Began. It brought to life all of which I had just seen, but in clear vivid and historically correct detail. I was instantly immersed into the culture and events of the time. Bob Deans writes beautifully and I can't wait to see whats next.
Wonderfully written September 17, 2007
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
This is a wonderfully written, informative book that focuses on the history that happened on the James River from 1607 to 1865.
Like any good storyteller, Deans illuminates specific characters (John Smith, Pocahontas, Powhatan, Patrick Henry and Abraham Lincoln among them), to shed light on the whole. And the whole is this: That the two original sins of the American experiment -- our near-genocidal treatment of the Indians and our institution of black slavery -- began here, early in our formative years, on the banks of the James River in Virginia. At the very same time and in the very same place, began our very real belief in a democratic government of laws and not of men.
On this river was nurtured the the notion that all men were created equal, even as those who proclaimed liberty and equality denied it (and increasingly codified that denial) to a whole race of men and women.
That such schizophrenia of national psyche could not long endure seems obvious. And the fever that provided the cure finally broke here, too, on the banks of the James in April 1865.
This is a terrific book. However, the publisher, I believe, has let the writer down in two respects: It could use more maps. When Deans writes of someone rounding this point, exploring this tributary or inhabiting that island, I want to have a map close at hand to see for myself. There are a few maps, and they are good, but I would like more.
And here's a thing sure to rankle any West Virginian ex-copy editor: In the chapter on John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry (then Virginia, today West Virginia), it says he was hanged in nearby Charleston. As any Mountain Stater (and probably even some Virginians) know, Charleston, the state capital, is in the south central part of the state. Charles Town, where they have horse racing, is in the Eastern Panhandle. Charles Town is close to Harper's Ferry, not Charleston. (And as any newspaperman knows, Charleston, Charles Town is an AP Stylebook entry. I presume the error is an editor's and not Deans'.)
Really Good August 10, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Hi,
I am reading this book right now and am on page 238 of 287. This is the most readable "history" book I have ever read. I would give it a 4 1/2 out of 5 really. He gets into the baptism of Pochohontas and gets a little sharp with the tongue. Don't pass up on this book though because of a few pages. Everyones opinion still matters. I do like how it's in a storybook format and I do like the authors opinion most of the time. I would say the book is 85% fact, %15 opinion.
Very knowledgable writer. A book that gives you the framework to be educated about American history in discussions with your friends. No thanksgiving story and they lived happily ever after. America was founded by immigrants and freedom fighters, criminals, slaves, and Native Americans obviously.
Thanks. God Bless.
Aaron.
Reclaims your lack of American history knowledge June 10, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
If you didn't take or do well in early American history class, this book will go a long way to help. Bob Deans, informatively and entertainingly, chronicles the first foreign footprints on American soil. In doing so, he sympathetically gives the natives their due, while exploring with reportorial acumen, the inexorable march, good and bad, toward democracy, all of which started "along the James," in Dean's beloved state.
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