Maine: The Pine Tree State from Prehistory to the Present

by Richard W. Judd (Editor), Edwin A. Churchill (Editor), Joel W. Eastman (Editor)

The first comprehensive history of Maine to be published in decades, The Pine Tree State surveys the region’s rich history from prehistoric times to the early 1990s. Chapter authors are respected scholars in Maine history from the fields of archaeology, anthropology, ethnic studies, and the various subdisciplines of cultural, economic, labor, military, maritime. Caught up at times in national events, Maine has also led the nation in important ways. Its fishing industry fed and its textile industry clothed the nation’s people. Maine loggers contributed heavily to the technologies used in cutting, hauling, and driving timber. Maine excelled in the production of wooden ships and supplied the expertise to sail them. In the nineteenth century Maine’s political leaders were among the most powerful in the nation, and Maine’s contribution to social reform attracted national recognition. All these subjects and others are explored in a narrative that encompasses Maine’s prehistory and its native people; the era of European exploration and settlement; Indian wars, revolution, and statehood; the logging, fishing, and maritime industries; family and community life; economics and politics; the arts and culture; and much more. The Pine Tree State will be an authoritative resource about Maine history for years to come.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Textbooks

630 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1994

Reviews

[Don Schmidt]

This book is a herculean effort made by a number of academics who came together with the common thought that a seminal, up-to-date history of the State of Maine was long overdue. It was was almost a ten year process, and it does not disappoint.

Starting with the end of the last Ice Age, the book covers the arrival of the first native people to the area, giving the reader a solid sense of the people and cultures that existed in Maine thousands of years before the arrival of the Europeans. I'm not an expert on Maine history, but I have the feeling that much of the material in the book details history of the state that has not been widely talked about.

This is not a quick read, for a few reasons. First, the length of the book is almost 600 pages. The second reason is that some of the chapters emphasize (in a needed way) a lot of stats and other technical information. With that being said, although the chapters were written by a academics with various backgrounds of expertise, the book is written for the lay person to understand as it doesn't "talk over your head". It is written to educate.

As a student of history wanting to learn more about Maine, I did a lot of underlining and made notes in the margins for later, easy(er) reference. The "Suggested Reading" section at the end of most chapters is invaluable. I underlined everything I wanted to read and the went to Goodreads and saved all the books in my account to read at a later date.

The book was recommended to me by an associate professor at the University of Maine after I contacted the Department of History there, asking for a referral on some books that could get me started on learning about Maine history. This book is a great initial primer, and it should be yours, too.

[Philip Bard]

Worth purchasing just for the maps and charts.

[J.M. Hushour]

Project Read-a-History-of-Every-State-in-Order-of-Statehood #23

[Natalie L]

read it for a college class and honestly it was such a good resource

[Christina]

Read for a Maine History course.