Juricek (history, Emory U.) provides an account of the interactions between the English and the Creek Indians in colonial Georgia from its founding in 1733 until 1763, when French and Spanish rivals withdrew from the region. He describes how colonists and the Creeks negotiated with each other, especially in land issues, and their clashes, efforts at manipulation, and how they reached a series of unstable compromises. Focusing on the negotiations between leaders of the two peoples (including colony founder James Edward Oglethorpe), contacts prompted by their mutual interest in peace, and their differences, he discusses their interactions over how to deal with the French and Spanish, trade and trade abuses, and ownership of territory. He addresses different understandings of "national" territory, the blunders of Oglethorpe, and how this led to Georgia's greatest crisis, "the Bosomworth controversy," eventually resolved by Governor Henry Ellis in 1757. Annotation ©2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)