The Saltwater Frontier

The Saltwater Frontier is a very admirably written piece of history. Andrew Lipman presents a history of the geopolitical situation in New Netherlands and New England in the 17th century, and in a surprising breakthrough which rightfully won him the prestigious Bancroft Prize, actually made use of BOTH Dutch and English primary sources to do his research. As such Lipman is actually able to triangulate and include the perspective of the indigenous peoples of the area as well. All told, the book, with its spectacular prose, gives a vivid picture of what life on the ground (and on the sea) might have been like in 1640s Connecticut. In a relatively short 300 or so pages Lipman opens the readers eyes to the ways that the waters of the American northeast functioned themselves as a frontier that were often dominated by the indigenous peoples of the area.