Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America (America: a Cultural History),   ISBN:9780195069051

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A fascinating history of the United States and the influence of cultural certainties. This book goes a long way toward explaining the current culture wars and the consequent political developments. Most of today's leading issues are better understood when viewed through the perspective provided by this book.

As a Scots-Irish decendent I was particularly fascinated by the section dedicated to the Scots-Irish and the influence of clans in the New World. I finally understand the Southern fetish with who your family was.

Somewhat academic, the book nonetheless is a treasure for the determined reader.

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David Hackett Fischer beautifully illustrates the importance of history by tracking the "folkways" of four different immigrations of English-speaking persons to the newly established British colony in America. His careful cataloging of these folkways and their origins enables the reader to see the roots of regionalism and the characteristics of regions that persevere till the present day. Fischer also makes a case for the miracle of democracy being a product of four different approaches to government, none of which has been completely accepted or eradicated.

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Though twenty years old, this massive (900+ pages counting the acknowledgments and index) tome still stands as one of THE essential works on the colonial period of American history. David Hackett Fischer traces the 'folkways' of four large waves of migration from the British Isles to North America: From East Anglia to New England; from Southern England to the Chesapeake; from the North Midlands to the Delaware Valley; and from North Britain and Northern Ireland to the hills and mountains of the 'backcountry.'

In this cultural history, Fischer looks at continuity and change over time as immigrants from Britain came to North America and set up new societies. He tends to find more continuity than change. He looks at many facets -- from dialects to food to architecture to attitudes towards sex, families, children, time, liberty, and more. The different conceptions of liberty were particularly interesting to me -- it helps you understand how Americans from different regions and folkways can use the same terminology but mean very different things by it.

Two things that really impress themselves upon the reader from reading this book. First, the British Isles legacy is still, centuries and many immigrants from other places later, the single most important influence on American culture and society; and secondly, that this is not a single cultural inheritance, but a pluralistic one that varies according to region. Even though these early colonial immigrants all came from one relatively compact region of Europe, they were very different from one another in countless and important ways.

Perhaps the most interesting part of the book (to me at least) was the lengthy Conclusion chapter, where Fischer traces the importance of this sectionalism through American history to the late-twentieth century, especially in terms of political coalitions.

Yes, ALBION'S SEED is a bear of a book, but if you want to REALLY understand colonial American culture, and its impact through to today, you must read this book.

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Professor Fischer covers in great detail the history of four groups emigrating from the British Isles to the New World from 1630 to 1775 and shows how the character of the regions in the United States in which they settled reflects their customs in the British Isles. The material is fascinating and always well-documented. I am torn between four and five stars for this volume, and am giving it four because I believe that the material could, in many cases, have been presented in a manner easier to understand.

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Magnificent book. The author's thesis, themes, and insights are marvelous, and you'll continue to weigh them, explore them, play with them, and bring them up in discussions long after you've finished this book. Among the top ten essential books of American history.