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Just started looking at this book I picked up randomly, and it's due back today, but it looks interesting. It's the history of the US as told by non-US textbooks around the world, in various snippets. Just the introduction was interesting: non-US textbook processes being a lot more centralized than the US, and different styles of textbooks: e.g. US texts tend to be organized by political history, presidents and eras and such, while the French have more social and economic history and history of ideas. Anglophone books tend to go for long narrative, French for short summaries and lots of primary sources.
A Cuban book notes details like the sailor of Columbus who saw land being Andalucian. "Caribbean" (various small islands share a text) spend more attention on Columbus's activity in their region, including the genocide and slavery of the Indians.
Some facts I hadn't known: In the mid 1700s France supposedly had 20 million people, Britain just 6 million, the British colonies 1.5 million (so 1/4 that of Britain!), New France just 100,000. I didn't know the colonies were so big relative to the UK. Differences between British and French colonies: partly the availability of fertile land, but largely immigration policies, the French only wanted pious Catholics while the British were less committed to mercantilism (so more colonial industry and trade) and took in more people from all over Europe.
A Cuban book notes details like the sailor of Columbus who saw land being Andalucian. "Caribbean" (various small islands share a text) spend more attention on Columbus's activity in their region, including the genocide and slavery of the Indians.
Some facts I hadn't known: In the mid 1700s France supposedly had 20 million people, Britain just 6 million, the British colonies 1.5 million (so 1/4 that of Britain!), New France just 100,000. I didn't know the colonies were so big relative to the UK. Differences between British and French colonies: partly the availability of fertile land, but largely immigration policies, the French only wanted pious Catholics while the British were less committed to mercantilism (so more colonial industry and trade) and took in more people from all over Europe.