Category: Colonial, Revolutionary Era & Early American History

Indian Country and the Origins of the United States: An Excerpt from “Seeing Red”

The following is an excerpt of SEEING RED: Indigenous Land, American Expansion, and the Political Economy of Plunder in North America by Michael John Witgen (published with our publishing partners at the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture) which is now available in paperback wherever books are sold. Finalist, 2023 Pulitzer Prize in History 2023 James A. Rawley… Continue Reading Indian Country and the Origins of the United States: An Excerpt from “Seeing Red”

Seawall’s Secret: The Selling of More Than Two Dozen Black Africans

The following is an excerpt from Before Equiano: A Prehistory of the North American Slave Narrative by Zachary McLeod Hutchins, available wherever books are sold. In the antebellum United States, formerly enslaved men and women who told their stories and advocated for abolition helped establish a new genre with widely recognized tropes: the slave narrative. This book investigates how enslaved… Continue Reading Seawall’s Secret: The Selling of More Than Two Dozen Black Africans

2026 and Insurance: A Conversation With Hannah Farber

Thanks to the Omohundro Institute of Early American History & Culture for allowing us to reblog the following Q&A with Hannah Farber, author of Underwriters of the United States: How Insurance Shaped the American Founding, that originally appeared on their blog, Uncommon Sense. In this installment of interviews with OI Book authors about the Semiquincentennial, Hannah Farber discusses marine insurance—a topic that seems… Continue Reading 2026 and Insurance: A Conversation With Hannah Farber

2026 and Religion: A Conversation with Katherine Carté

Thanks to the Omohundro Institute of Early American History & Culture for allowing us to reblog the following Q&A with Katherine Carté, author of Religion and the American Revolution: An Imperial History, that originally appeared on their blog, Uncommon Sense. This is the first in a planned series of conversations with Omohundro Institute authors about how their work relates to the American… Continue Reading 2026 and Religion: A Conversation with Katherine Carté

How Starving Soldiers Survived

The following is an excerpt from Feeding Washington’s Army: Surviving the Valley Forge Winter of 1778 by Ricardo A. Herrera available everywhere books and e-books are sold. Faced with the collapse of the commissariat and the all too real potential of scattering the army across eastern Pennsylvania so that it might feed itself, Washington was on the horns of a dilemma.… Continue Reading How Starving Soldiers Survived

Women’s History Month 2022 Reading List (Curated by Ann Bingham)

Happy Women’s History Month! In celebration of this historical month, we’ll be sharing reading lists curated by our staff featuring all authors who identify as women. Today we’re sharing a list from our Exhibits and Awards Manager Ann Bingham. Click here to see the previously shared lists and learn more about how Women’s History Month came about. If you’re interested in purchasing any of… Continue Reading Women’s History Month 2022 Reading List (Curated by Ann Bingham)

Women’s History Month 2022 Reading List (Curated by Sonya Bonczek)

Happy Women’s History Month! In celebration of this historical month, we’ll be sharing reading lists curated by our staff featuring all authors who identify as women. Today we’re sharing a list from Sonya Bonczek, our Director of Publicity. Click here to see the previously shared lists and learn more about how Women’s History Month came about. If you’re interested in purchasing any of these… Continue Reading Women’s History Month 2022 Reading List (Curated by Sonya Bonczek)

Adrian Miller’s Top 5 Favorite UNC Press Books #UNCP100

In celebration of our centennial year, we’ve asked our authors to write some guest blog posts to help celebrate with us! We’re kicking off our centennial blog post series with a post from Adrian Miller, author of award-winning book Black Smoke: African Americans and the United States of Barbecue. In Black Smoke, Miller chronicles how Black barbecuers, pitmasters, and restauranteurs helped… Continue Reading Adrian Miller’s Top 5 Favorite UNC Press Books #UNCP100

“Private Profits and Public Affairs”, The Omohundro Institute’s Conversation with Authors Hannah Farber and Michael Zakim

Watch below as Hannah Farber, author of Underwriters of the United States: How Insurance Shaped the American Founding, and author Michael Zakim speak with the Omohundro Institute for one of their latest author conversations. Unassuming but formidable, American maritime insurers used their position at the pinnacle of global trade to shape the new nation. The international information they gathered and the… Continue Reading “Private Profits and Public Affairs”, The Omohundro Institute’s Conversation with Authors Hannah Farber and Michael Zakim

National Technology Day: Recommended Reading List

January 6th marks National Technology Day. Technology has been a huge stepping stone in the advancement of so many cultures. From the technology we use in our everyday lives to NASA’s own technology used for space exploration, it’s always been closely connected to the overall progress of America. In celebration of National Technology Day, we’re sharing a recommended reading list… Continue Reading National Technology Day: Recommended Reading List

2022 Modern Language Association Annual Meeting

We hope you’ll visit our Modern Language Association virtual booth to browse our new and recent titles and connect with editor Lucas Church. “Hopefully, this will be the last year we can’t meet in-person, but I want to welcome proposal from all writers who are working at the intersection of Black and literary studies. American studies-inflected methodologies are also welcome,… Continue Reading 2022 Modern Language Association Annual Meeting

2022 American Historical Association Annual Meeting

Due to continued concerns surrounding travel and the coronavirus, UNC Press has decided to no longer exhibit in-person at AHA 2022. While we are disappointed to miss this opportunity to see you all at our booth, we hope you’ll take the time to visit our virtual booth. And we hope to see you at AHA 2023! At our virtual booth… Continue Reading 2022 American Historical Association Annual Meeting

What Insurance Wants You To See

The following is a guest blog post by Hannah Farber, author of Omohundro Institute & UNC Press published Underwriters of the United States: How Insurance Shaped the American Founding. Unassuming but formidable, American maritime insurers used their position at the pinnacle of global trade to shape the new nation. The international information they gathered and the capital they generated enabled… Continue Reading What Insurance Wants You To See

Three UNC Press titles win American Historical Association 2021 Prizes!

Congratulations to these UNC Press titles who were American Historical Association 2021 Prize Winners! The AHA offers annual prizes honoring exceptional books, distinguished teaching and mentoring in the classroom, public history, and other historical projects. Since 1896, the Association has conferred over 1,000 awards. This year’s finalists were selected from a field of over 1,400 entries by nearly 150 dedicated… Continue Reading Three UNC Press titles win American Historical Association 2021 Prizes!

Race, Removal, and the Right to Remain: Removal and the British Empire

Happy Indigenous Peoples’ Day! We’re happy to be celebrating the first-ever presidential proclamation of this day in which we appreciate Native Americans and their land that we colonized and continue to occupy. In an effort to help celebrate this new proclamation, read an excerpt from Samantha Seeley’s Omohundro Institute and UNC Press recently published book, Race, Removal, and the Right to Remain: Migration and the… Continue Reading Race, Removal, and the Right to Remain: Removal and the British Empire

“New Approaches to the Revolutionary Era”, The Library of Virginia’s Virtual Virginia Forum series featuring Author Carolyn Eastman

In late July, Carolyn Eastman, author of Omohundro Institute and UNC Press-published The Strange Genius of Mr. O: The World of the United States’ First Forgotten Celebrity, was featured in The Library of Virginia’s Virtual Virginia Forum series alongside historians Kyle Rogers and David Hayter. In this discussion, Eastman and her fellow historians examine the ways in which their own… Continue Reading “New Approaches to the Revolutionary Era”, The Library of Virginia’s Virtual Virginia Forum series featuring Author Carolyn Eastman