By putting the story of the native Americans and their encounters with Europeans at its centre, this work explores a new history in which the indigenous peoples become vibrant and vitally important components of the British, French, Spanish and Portuguese empires.

Traditional histories leave the impression that once Native American peoples came in contact with Europeans, their importance in history clearly waned as they became "marginalized." This groundbreaking study shows that this was never the case. By putting the story of the native peoples and their encounters with Europeans at the center, a new history emerges in which the indigenous peoples become vibrant and vitally important components of the British, French, Spanish, and Portuguese empires. Discussing these empires holistically, rather than in isolation from each other, provides a more coherent account of the colonial world. The book also considers what the history of the Western hemisphere in colonial times reveals about our contemporary society.