The History and Present State of Virginia

“An American classic . . . This splendid edition of Beverley’s History is indispensable.” — The Historian

“A quality edition. Recommended. All general and academic collections.” — CHOICE

“In this beautifully annotated edition, Susan Scott Parrish situates Robert Beverley thoroughly within his political and intellectual contexts, allowing readers full access to a text that is indispensable for understanding both early Virginia and creole perspectives on English empire.” — April Hatfield, Texas A&M University

“Beverley’s History offers an engaging tour of the intellectual horizons of Virginia’s planter elite at the dawn of the eighteenth century. Parrish’s Introduction helps illuminate a landscape at once familiar and strange, a world of plants, animals, and peoples that fired the imagination of its readers both then and now.” — Timothy Shannon, Gettysburg College

“This edition provides grounds for the reassessment of an important but neglected account of nature and culture in colonial Virginia. Parrish’s editing is meticulous, and her introduction draws widely on recent work in early American and transatlantic studies to locate the text within the emergent genre of the 'true history.'” — Timothy Sweet, West Virginia University

“This new edition of Beverley’s History is more than welcome. It has all of Beverley’s own readability; you can almost hear him talk aloud. But now there are more generous notes and references to help open up his world (both English and non-English) not only to historians but to anthropologists and all sorts of other curious readers.” — Helen C. Rountree, Emerita, Old Dominion University