The History of the American Indians.

The History of the American Indians. By James Adair. Edited and with an introduction and annotations by Kathryn E. Holland Braund. (Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, c. 2005. Pp. xiv, 589. $65.00, ISBN 0-8173-1393-1.)

The community of southeastern scholars owes a debt of gratitude to Kathryn E. Holland Braund and the University of Alabama Press for this unparalleled edition of a book justly described as being "one of the most valuable primary accounts of the southeastern Indians" (p. xi). The History of the American Indians, first published in 1775, "offers a telling glimpse of backcountry life absent from official reports and narratives" (p. xii). James Adair, the author, spent over three decades among southeastern Indians as a trader during the mid-eighteenth century, and unlike most of his competitors and associates in the trade, he was well educated. Adair's descriptions of certain aspects of Indian life, such as the deerskin trade, warfare, material culture, and public ritual, are unmatched in the writings of his contemporaries.

In the past, however, the reliability of Adair's work was called into question because of his insistence that the ancestors of American Indians were of Hebrew descent. Braund points out, however, that "Adair's well-organized and systematic approach to the question of Indian origins represented the most comprehensive and best-supported treatment of the problem by an American up to his time" (p. 44). The twenty-three arguments used to support his theory contain sharp bits of ethnographic observation despite his erroneous conclusion. In addition to his primary thesis, Adair includes brief histories of the Catawba, Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, and Chickasaw as well as a long section dedicated to general observations. He concludes with an appendix to advise politicians "concerning the proper management of the Indian trade and diplomacy in the southern backcountry" (p. 44).

Now, after being out of print for several decades, "one of the most frequently cited and best-known books on the late colonial South" is finally available again (p. 43). Braund succeeds in her attempt to "introduce general readers to Adair and his famous work, as well as make it more accessible to scholars" (p. xii). Braund's introductory essay is the most comprehensive analysis of Adair's remarkable life and work that has yet been published. Her copious annotations thoroughly explain the "people, places, and events mentioned by Adair" and also include "[c]omparative evidence by Adair's near contemporaries" (p. xii)--an invaluable addition for scholars. Adair's original spellings have been maintained, but the use of the archaic "s" has been dropped, which makes the text easier to read for scholars and laypersons alike. Throughout the current edition the page numbers of the 1775 edition have been noted in the text so that references to the original in other works can be tracked down using this edition. Braund's skillful work has produced what will remain the authoritative version of Adair's great book for decades to come.

ERIC E. BOWNE

Appalachian State University