No abstract

Reynier, a Lutheran from the German territories. While Fogleman suggests that few Europeans travellers 'came from such an unusual background or had such unusual goals in the Americas as they did' (p. ), his study engages a significant criticism of the field. For Fogleman, Atlantic history is not a repacking of imperial history nor is it a story of unchecked growth and success. Rather, in his exposition of the dynamic and varied nature of the eighteenth century, Fogleman reveals that disconnection, disruption and discord can be instructive tools for unpacking the Atlantic world experience. To reflect the tumults of the Atlantic experience, Fogleman explores the couple's interactions with each other and various peoples, black, white and Indian, as they seek out 'truth and opportunity… both economic and spiritual' (p. ). As the couple endeavoured to carve out their own niches, they experienced and participated in many aspects of colonial projects promoting conquest, slavery and trade. Yet, they also contended with interpersonal struggles as they sought to promote Moravian ideals as missionaries to less than receptive audiences. Driven largely by the inter-workings of the couple's relationship, their struggles and their relationships with others, Fogleman's narrative illustrates how the couple helped to shape the world around them and how, at many different crossroads of cultural exchange, that world shaped them. Written in easily digestible prose, Fogleman's narrative aptly engages a wide range of scholarly literature without being obtrusive. Therefore, his work is a welcome addition to the growing number of microhistories shedding light on the lived reality of the eighteenth-century Atlantic world. While this work is anchored in one Moravian couple's spiritual journey, scholars interested in religion in the Atlantic world, as well as topics in gender, colonial development, cross-cultural interactions and the movement of ideas and people will find great value in exploring two of the many troubled souls who rode the waves of the Atlantic world.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract