"Unlike the French and Spanish settlers of the New World, who enjoyed elaborate fortifications sponsored by governments keen to see their oversees possessions flourish, those arriving from Britain, the Netherlands, and Sweden had to use their own resources. These colonies were often settled by religious refugees whose rulers were happy to see them relocate. As a result, their fortifications were more likely to be small garrison houses or wooden stockade forts than vast Vauban-style fortresses. They saw their fair share of fighting, however, with the French and Indians to the north a constant menace, and some fortifications changed hands several times, including the nascent settlement of New Amsterdam (later New York). This book provides an in-depth study of their construction and location, and examines what it was like to live and fight inside them"--P. [4] of cover.

Includes maps of: Major Forts of the American Colonies; New Amsterdam, 1639; New Amsterdam, c. 1655-1660; Siege of Fort Christina by the Dutch in September 1655; Boston Harbor, c. 1776; Albany, 1695; Charleston, South Carolina, 1704; Frederica, Georgia, 1736-1748; Halifax, 1749; St. Johns, Newfoundland, 1762; British Forts on Hudson Bay.

Chronology -- The early forts -- New Netherlands -- New Sweden -- Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Connecticut -- New York -- Maryland, New Jersey, and Delaware -- Pennsylvania and Virginia -- North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia -- Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Canada, and Hudson's Bay -- Life in the forts -- The forts today.