Posted for Jim Glanville:
 
________________________________
 
FYI, VA-Hist subscribers:
 
Virginia Tech history professor Peter Wallenstein's book Cradle of
America: Four Centuries of Virginia History (Lawrence: University Press
of Kansas, 2007) has been issued. It was written in Blacksburg.
 
The first few lines from the dust jacket read: 
 
As the site of the first permanent English settlement in North America,
the birthplace of a presidential dynasty, and the gateway to western
growth in the nation's early years, Virginia can rightfully be called
the "cradle of America." In this first single-authored history of
Virginia since the 1970s, Peter Wallenstein traces major themes across
four centuries in a brisk narrative that recalls the people and events
that have shaped the Old Dominion. 
  
Historical accounts of Virginia have often emphasized harmony and
tradition, but Wallenstein focuses on the impact of conflict and change.
From the beginning, Virginians have debated and challenged each other's
visions of Virginia, and Wallenstein shows how these differences have
influenced its sometimes turbulent development Casting an eye on blacks
as well as whites, and on people from both east and west of the Blue
Ridge Mountains, he traces such key themes as political power, racial
identity, and education. Bringing to bear his long experience teaching
Virginia history, Wallenstein takes readers back, even before
Jamestown... 

Jim Glanville
Retired chemist
201 Graves Avenue
Blacksburg, VA 24060-5305