Why read Unsettling the West?

Book cover of Unsettling the West: Violence and State Building in the Ohio Valley

Book description

The revolutionary Ohio Valley is often depicted as a chaotic Hobbesian dystopia, in which Indians and colonists slaughtered each other at every turn. In Unsettling the West, Rob Harper overturns this familiar story. Rather than flailing in a morass, the peoples of the revolutionary Ohio Valley actively and persistently sought…

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American history

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Why read it?

1 author picked Unsettling the West as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Vassily Klimentov

Author

I do not specialize in U.S. history. I therefore picked up Rob Harper’s book because I wanted to read about a history I knew less about. Listening to it, I was impressed with the level of detail and nuance with which he deals with such a sensitive topic as the colonization of the Ohio Valley. Harper shows the complexity of the relations between Indians and colonists at the crucial time when Indians were increasingly dispossessed of their lands. Despite the violence which characterized the period, local collaborations existed and both colonists and Indians were fragmented groups. I also enjoyed the…

From Vassily's 3 favorite reads in 2024.