Preface : our mixed-up civilization -- A sign in the sky -- Across the ocean -- The first Virginians -- English settlers come to stay -- John Smith -- The starving time -- A lord, a hurricane, a wedding -- A share in America -- Jamestown makes it -- 1619-a big year -- Indians vs. colonists -- Massacre in Virginia, poverty in England -- The Mayflower : saints and strangers -- Pilgrims, Indians, and puritans -- Puritans, puritans, and more puritans -- Of towns and schools and sermons -- Roger Williams -- "Woman, hold your tongue" -- Statues on the common -- Of witches and dinosaurs -- Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Maine -- King Philip's war -- The Indians win this one -- What's a colony? -- Silvernails and big tub -- West to Jersey -- Cromwell and Charles -- William the wise -- Ben Franklin -- Maryland's form of toleration -- Carry me back to ole Virginny -- The good life -- Virginia's capital -- Pretend some more -- Carolina : riches, rice, slaves -- Carolina : dissenters and pirates -- Royal colonies and a no-blood revolution -- A nasty triangle -- Over the mountains -- Westward ho -- The end-and the beginning.