A lucidly written, up-to-date synthesis of the histories of Colonial Virginia and Maryland that will be a valuable asset to students new to the subject, or to scholars in need of a brief refresher. Choice An elegant and admirably concise overview of the history of the Chesapeake Bay region from the onset of English settlement to the end of the colonial period.
Virigina DeJohn Anderson Journal of American History A clear and accessible introduction to the history of the colonial Chesapeake.
Travis Glasson Journal of Southern History In this volume, Jean B. Russo and J. Elliott Russo synthesize the massive and sometimes arcane scholarship on colonial Chesapeake society into the most coherent, accessible, student-friendly account yet produced on this important and much-studied area. Thanks to Russo and Russo's graceful, economical prose, most readers will have no inkling as to how hard-won many of the insights contained in the original works that they draw upon really were... [ Planting an Empire ] is a remarkably economical, yet nuanced account of what rightly remains a staple of American history: the colonial Chesapeake's tobacco-dominated society of planters, servants, and slaves.
James D. Rice Agricultural History Planting an Empire offers a fresh new synthesis of colonial Chesapeake history... This important addition to the substantial body of scholarship known as the 'Chesapeake School,' weaves multiple narratives into a well-researched history of the colonized Chesapeake... Adding to the value of this book is its accessibility for a wide readership. The authors make a sustained effort to qualify terms and phrases by including brief explanations throughout the text, making it an excellent text for undergraduates and emerging history scholars.
Teresa Foster Melbourne Historical Journal