Delaware: A Bicentennial History

by Carol E. Hoffecker, Maps (Illustrator)

Uncorrected proof copy. Illustrated history. Front cover spotted from show-through of staples. xvi, 221 pages. stiff paper wrappers.. 8vo..

Genres: History

221 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 1977

About the author

Carol E. Hoffecker, a native Delawarean is Richards Professor Emeritus at the University of Delaware where she taught for thirty years. She is the author of many books and journal articles about Delaware, Delawareans, the city of Wilmington and the University of Delaware.

Among her publications are: Corporate Capital: Wilmington in the Twentieth Century (1983), Delaware, the First State (1988), Federal Justice in the First State, A History of the United States District Court for the District of Delaware (1992), Beneath Thy Guiding Hand: A History of Women at the University of Delaware (1994), Honest John Williams, U.S. Senator from Delaware (2000), and Democracy in Delaware (2004).

Reviews

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a concise and very readable history of Delaware, and I gained a lot of new information and insights about the state where I was born and raised. Considering that it was written more than forty years ago, it was surprisingly progressive and up to date in its treatment of subjects such as slavery, the impact of colonialism on indigenous people, voter suppression and the influence of large powerful corporations on the political system.

This book was part of a series called, “The States and the Nation,” a project that apparently commissioned a book on each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia in celebration of the bicentennial of the U.S. The series editor states that the goal was to make the history and significance of each state understandable and accessible for the lay reader rather than to produce new scholarly research, and I felt the author achieved that goal. I may seek out more books in this series if they are still available.

[Martin Denton · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is in three parts: the first is about the land and what uses it has variously been put to; the next is about the diverse people who have inhabited Delaware; and the third (and best, which probably should have come first) covers the state's political history. I learned a lot about Delaware from this book, but wished while reading it that it had been more traditionally chronological in its approach. Hoffecker seems to be a bit of a specialist in architectural history, and there are throughout lots of descriptions of buildings and houses that may be of particular interest to some.