The Middle Ground
Indians, Empires, and Republics in the Great Lakes Region, 1650–1815

An acclaimed classic book, the 20th anniversary edition of The Middle Ground includes a new preface by the author.

Richard White (Author)

9780521183444, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 1 November 2010

576 pages, 14 b/w illus. 4 maps 4 tables
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.7 cm, 0.76 kg

'White's work is also perfect for historians who are themselves looking into more information and research on the Natives' lives during the colonial era … White enchants all; I could not put this book down when I began reading it. The final verdict: Recommend.' Joshua Chanin, Reviewer's Bookwatch (www.midwestbookreview.com)

An acclaimed book and widely acknowledged classic, The Middle Ground steps outside the simple stories of Indian-white relations - stories of conquest and assimilation and stories of cultural persistence. It is, instead, about a search for accommodation and common meaning. It tells how Europeans and Indians met, regarding each other as alien, as other, as virtually nonhuman, and how between 1650 and 1815 they constructed a common, mutually comprehensible world in the region around the Great Lakes that the French called pays d'en haut. Here the older worlds of the Algonquians and of various Europeans overlapped, and their mixture created new systems of meaning and of exchange. Finally, the book tells of the breakdown of accommodation and common meanings and the re-creation of the Indians as alien and exotic. First published in 1991, the 20th anniversary edition includes a new preface by the author examining the impact and legacy of this study.

Introduction
1. Refugees: a world made of fragments
2. The middle ground
3. The fur trade
4. The alliance
5. Republicans and rebels
6. The clash of empires
7. Pontiac and the restoration of the middle ground
8. The British alliance
9. The contest of villagers
10. Confederacies
11. The politics of benevolence
Epilogue.

Subject Areas: Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900 [HBLL], Early modern history: c 1450/1500 to c 1700 [HBLH], History of the Americas [HBJK]