Tony Williams' America's Beginnings: The Dramatic Events that Shaped a Nation's Character, is a well written and highly readable collection of vignettes that will whet the appetite of budding historians.

Alf J. Mapp Jr., author of Three Golden Ages: Discovering the Creative Secrets of Renaissance Florence, Elizabethan England, and America's Founding

America's Beginnings tells the story of what Declaration of Independence signer Richard Henry Lee called “the vineyard of liberty.” Like the making of a fine wine, the success of the early American republic was far from inevitable. Tony Williams compellingly captures the difficulties and triumphs of early Americans. He tells of our beginnings with appreciation for the extraordinary accomplishments of the American Founders. This is civic-minded history at its best, and offers rich reading for citizens young and old alike.

David J. Bobb, Hillsdale College Allan P. Kirby, Jr. Center for Constitutional Studies and Citizenship

What were the 50 most important events of the colonial and revolutionary era? A new book published by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and Rowman & Littlefield Publishers surveys the top 50, from the Lost Colony of Roanoke to the passage of the Bill of Rights. Written by historian Tony Williams, America's Beginnings, the Dramatic Events that Shaped a Nation's Character” guides readers throughout the colonies, introducing figures such as John Smith, John Winthrop and the Founding Fathers while also examining the principles that turned subjects of a king into citizens of a free and independent nation.

The Virginia Gazette

Teachers of beginning courses in U.S. history and their students might find encouragement for their work.

Teaching History: A Journal of Methods