"This interdisciplinary volume brings together a richly substantive collection of case studies that examine European-indigene interactions, economic relations, and their materialities in the formation of the modern world. Research has well demonstrated the extent and complexity of the varied...

The author tells the story of people caught between our century and a traditional past. She shows how the high expectations of the new nations were dashed by a harsh conjunction of nature, desperate competition for trade, and the conflict between tradition and modern economic realities. She...