Taking a biographical approach to the colonial period of American history, Risjord (University of Wisconsin-Madison) sketches fifteen figures at once sympathetic to modern readers and in some sense exemplary of their own time. These include John Smith and Pocahontas, William Bradford, Ann Hutchinson, Nathaniel Bacon, William Penn, Pierre Radisson, the LeMoyne brothers, Edward Teach, James Oglethorpe, Cotton Mather, William Byrd II, Eliza Pinckney, and James Logan. He describes their roles establishing the colonies, fighting for supremacy on the continent, shaping an American character and society, and continuing the progress of the Enlightenment. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)