American Antiquarian Society
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United States
Distinguished historian Peter Mancall, who is based at the University of Southern California, discusses the sweeping history of North America from the perspectives of its indigenous peoples and the earliest Europeans to arrive on the continent. Drawing on his new book Contested Continent: The Struggle for North America, c. 1000-1680 (June 2026), Mancall underscores the titanic struggles between the peoples who had populated the Americas for centuries and the migrants from the Old World who initiated changes that created a New World which offered boundless opportunities for some and crushed the aspirations of others.
Peter C. Mancall is Distinguished Professor, the Andrew W. Mellon Professor of the Humanities, and the Linda and Harlan Martens Director of the USC-Huntington Early Modern Studies Institute at the University of Southern California. His book, Contested Continent: The Struggle for North American, c. 100-1680, the newest volume in the acclaimed Oxford History of the United States series, was published in June 2026. Mancall is the author of numerous other books including Fatal Journey: The Final Expedition of Henry Hudson and Hakluyt's Promise: An Elizabethan's Obsession for an English America. His writings have appeared in the Smithsonian, Time, the Los Angeles Times, and the Wall Street Journal, among other outlets. He was elected to AAS membership in October 2008.