THE SHAPING OF NORTH AMERICA

Isaac Asimov once again demonstrates his breathtaking capacity for cramming in more facts per page than any of the competition. This sweeping survey of the "shaping" of North America by Europeans moves from the voyages of the Vikings (and the likelihood of possible predecessors) to 1763 and includes not only the most famous explorers and lasting colonies but a host of minor voyages, abortive settlements (like the Huguenot establishment in the Carolinas which was wiped out by the Spaniards) and thumbnail histories of each of the American colonies — the invention of the log cabin in New Sweden, the naming of the Bronx after Jonas Bronck, Gorges and Mason's establishment in Maine and New Hampshire in 1622, Bacon's Rebellion and King Philip's War. Of course, considering the pace, there's not much time to enlarge on any of these events or to consider social and cultural developments. Since most collections are well stocked with alternatives to Mr. Asimov's voracious consumption of historical data on this period, The Shaping of North America will probably be less serviceable than his previous round-ups on The Near East, Canaan, England, France, etc.