Guy Chet Boeken

The book challenges the conventional narrative that the British Empire's rise eliminated piracy by illustrating its persistence in the eighteenth century. Guy Chet argues that despite governmental efforts, illegal trade thrived due to the Royal Navy's limited effectiveness and the cultural acceptance of smuggling. The author highlights how traditional views on state growth overlook enduring attitudes that favored piracy, driven by economic incentives rather than mere confrontation. This work contributes to borderlands scholarship, reevaluating the dynamics between the evolving state and its imperial frontiers.

Most U.S. History textbooks track the origins and evolution of American identity. They therefore present the American Revolution as the product of a gradual cultural change in English colonists. Over time, this process of Americanization differentiated and alienated the settlers from their compatriots and their government in Britain. This widely-taught narrative encourages students to view American independence as a reflection of emerging American nationhood. The Colonists' American Revolution introduces readers to a competing narrative which presents the Revolution as a product of the colonists' English identity and of English politics. This volume helps students recognize that the traditional narrative of the Revolution is an argument, not a just-the-facts account of this period in U.S. history. Written to make history interesting and relevant to students, this textbook provides a dissenting interpretation of America's founding-the Revolution was not the result of an incremental process of Americanization, but rather an immediate reaction to sudden policy changes in London. It exposes students to dueling historical narratives of the American Revolution, encouraging them to debate and evaluate both narratives on the strength of evidence