Jayme A. Sokolow

Size Matters: A History of Height in America is the first history of height in America. It begins with Native Americans in approximately 3300 BCE and continues to the present and tries to answer two important historical and biological questions: why have the heights of Americans fluctuated over time, and what do changing heights tell us about the American experience? Size matters because height matters – as a measure of health, well-being, and economic inequality – in American history. Heights are sensitive barometers both to material and social circumstances and they are affected by subtle changes in families, communities, and society that have been very difficult to measure and understand until recently. By bringing the body back into American history, Size Matters helps us better understand important changes in the lives of Americans over time.

Traditional histories of North and South America often leave the impression that Native American peoples had little impact on the colonies and empires established by Europeans after 1492. This groundbreaking study, which spans more than 300 years, demonstrates the agency of indigenous peoples in forging their own history and that of the Western Hemisphere. By putting the story of the indigenous peoples and their encounters with Europeans at the center, a new history of the "New World" emerges in which the Native Americans become vibrant and vitally important components of the British, French, Spanish, and Portuguese empires. In fact, their presence was the single most important factor in the development of the colonial world. By discussing the "great encounter" of peoples and cultures, this book provides a valuable, new perspective on the history of the Americas.

Traditional histories of North and South America often leave the impression that Native American peoples had little impact on the colonies and empires established by Europeans after 1492. This groundbreaking study, which spans more than 300 years, demonstrates the agency of indigenous peoples in forging their own history and that of the Western Hemisphere. By putting the story of the indigenous peoples and their encounters with Europeans at the center, a new history of the "New World" emerges in which the Native Americans become vibrant and vitally important components of the British, French, Spanish, and Portuguese empires. In fact, their presence was the single most important factor in the development of the colonial world. By discussing the "great encounter" of peoples and cultures, this book provides a valuable, new perspective on the history of the Americas.