18th century

Virginia's Northern Neck: A Pictorial History

By John C. Wilson

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Virginia's Northern Neck: A Pictorial History is filled with photos and illustrations that, along with informative text, give an lively dimension to the region's past, from early settlements to steamboat days to 20th-century lives well-lived.

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Colonial Virginia Cookery

By Jane Carson

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Cooking methods and recipes as done by Virginia's colonists. Recipes are drawn from period cookbooks by Mrs. Custis, Mrs. Randolph, Mrs. Glasse, and numerous others. Dressing trout, stewing oysters, making ice cream, dressing mutton, and layering trifles were part and parcel of colonial cooking.
Also available to check out.

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Chesapeake Waters: Four Centuries of Controversy, Concern, and Legislation

By Steven G. Davison

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"...chronicles four centuries of public attitudes about the Bay - and legislative responses to them - from 1607, the date of the first English settlement in Jamestown, Virginia, to the close of the twentieth century. In the last few decades, wide-reaching measures by federal and local governments have influenced how people use the Bay: the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency completed a massive study of Bay quality; the Chesapeake Bay Program was launched; the Critical Area Protection Act went into effect."
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Pirates on the Chesapeake: Being a True History of Pirates, Picaroons, and Raiders on Chesapeake Bay, 1610-1807

By Donald G. Shomette

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"Here is a dazzling array of swashbuckling pirates, picaroons, and sea rovers pitted against the often feckless representatives of an outpost government authority in the Chesapeake Bay region. It is an exciting and dramatic 200-year history that begins grimly with the "starving time" in the Virginia colony in 1609 and ends with the peaceful resolution of the Othello affair with the French in 1807. In between lies a full panoply of violent and bizarre buccaneering incidents that one is hard pressed to imagine."
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The First Emancipator: The Forgotten Story of Robert Carter, the Founding Father Who Freed His Slaves

By Andrew Levy

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Robert Carter III was born into the highest circles of Virginia's Colonial aristocracy, neighbor and kin to the Washingtons and Lees and a friend and peer to Thomas Jefferson and George Mason. But in 1791, Carter severed his ties with this elite at the stroke of a pen. Having gradually grown to feel that what he possessed was not truly his, clashing repeatedly with his neighbors, his friends, government officials, and, most poignantly, his own family, he set free nearly five hundred slaves in the largest single act of liberation in the history of American slavery before the Emancipation Proclamation.
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Blackbeard: America's Most Notorious Pirate

By Angus Konstam

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Of all the colorful cutthroats who scoured the seas in search of plunder during the Golden Age of Piracy in the early eighteenth century, none was more ferocious or notorious than Blackbeard. As unforgettable as his savage career was, much of Blackbeard's life has been shrouded in mystery-until now. Drawing on vivid descriptions of Blackbeard's attacks from his rare surviving victims, pirate expert Angus Konstam traces Blackbeard's career from its beginnings to his final defeat in a tremendous sea battle near his base at Ocracoke Island. Presenting dramatic accounts of the pirate's very effective tactics and his reputation for cruelty, Konstam offers a fascinating examination of the life and business of piracy and the lure of this brutal and bloody trade.
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George Mason, Forgotten Founder

By Jeff Broadwater

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This is the first full biography of George Mason (1725-92) in a quarter-century. Although he is often omitted from the small circle of founding fathers celebrated today, Mason was at the center of the momentous events of 18th-century America. He played a key role in the Stamp Act Crisis, the American Revolution, and the drafting of Virginia's first state constitution. He is perhaps best known as author of the Virginia Declaration of Rights, often hailed as the model for the Bill of Rights. Broadwater shows that Mason was often driven by concerns about the abuse of political power, which went to the essence of the American experience.
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France and England in North America

By Francis Parkman

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This 19th-century series of writings on the period of colonization of North America is considered to be a classic of its time. Contents of the two volumes include: v. 1. Pioneers of France in the New World. The Jesuits of North America in the seventeenth century. La Salle and the discovery of the Great West. The old regime in Canada -- v. 2. Count Frontenac and New France under Louis XIV. A half-century of conflict. Montcalm and Wolfe. Reserve volumes with a specific copy hold.
Also available to read online.

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John Alexander: A Northern Neck Proprietor, His Family, Friends and Kin

By Wesley E. Pippenger

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John Alexander, who immigrated to Virginia circa 1653, had vast land holdings in the Neck and numerous descendants. This volume examines the family history through much of the 19th century.
Includes many reproductions of photographs and historic papers as well as an index to dozens of other families mentioned.
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Holiday Fare: Favorite Williamsburg Recipes

By John R. Gonzales

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Clear step-by-step directions for more than 60 recipes from Colonial Williamsburg's Christmastime festivities.
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