In 1968, Winthrop D. Jordan set out in encyclopedic detail the
evolution of white Englishmen's and Anglo-Americans' perceptions of
blacks, perceptions of difference used to justify race-based
slavery, and liberty and justice for whites only. This second
edition, with new forewords by historians Christopher Leslie Brown
and Peter H. Wood, reminds us that Jordan's text is still the
definitive work on the history of race in America in the colonial
era. Every book published to this day on slavery and racism builds
upon his work; all are judged in comparison to it; none has
surpassed it.