Regeneration Through Violence: The Mythology of the American Frontier, 1600–1860

Richard Slotkin

Jan 2024 · Mythology of the American West Book 1 · Open Road Media

About this ebook

National Book Award Finalist: A study of national myths, lore, and identity that “will interest all those concerned with American cultural history” (American Political Science Review).

Winner of the American Historical Association’s Albert J. Beveridge Award for Best Book in American History

In Regeneration Through Violence, the first of his trilogy on the mythology of the American West, historian and cultural critic Richard Slotkin demonstrates how the attitudes and traditions that shape American culture evolved from the social and psychological anxieties of European settlers struggling in a strange new world to claim the land and displace Native Americans. Using the popular literature of the seventeenth, eighteenth, and early nineteenth centuries—including captivity narratives, the Daniel Boone tales, and the writings of Hawthorne, Thoreau, and Melville—Slotkin traces the full development of this myth.

“Deserves the careful attention of everyone concerned with the history of American culture or literature. ”—Comparative Literature

“Slotkin’s large aim is to understand what kind of national myths emerged from the American frontier experience. . . . [He] discusses at length the newcomers’ search for an understanding of their first years in the New World [and] emphasizes the myths that arose from the experiences of whites with Indians and with the land.” —Western American Literature

Ratings and reviews

The premise is fascinating, but the book reads like a doctoral thesis of boring overly technical writing that states the obvious or already known ad nauseum. Some paragraphs are overly long complex sentences that end and seem to repeat with different wording. This may be great for serious researchers with a lot of patience and caffeine but I found this to be a slog. I skipped to Chapter 2 since I thought maybe Chapter 1 was a redundant introduction, but alas, Chapter 2 was worse. How can something so exciting be written so boringly? Methinks the author is one of those who likes to hear their own voice and thinks their writing abounds with profound observations.

About the author

Richard Slotkin, widely regarded as one of America’s leading cultural critics, is a two-time finalist for the National Book Award. In addition to his prize-winning trilogy on the myth of the frontier in America, Slotkin is the author of Lost Battalions, a New York Times Notable Book, and A Great Disorder, as well as three historical novels, including The Return of Henry Starr. He is the Olin Professor of English and American Studies, Emeritus, at Wesleyan University.