Review of Detroit: Who Built Her? Who Broke Her? 1620 to 1890

[Michael Valentine]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Detroit: Who Built Her? Who Broke Her? 1620 to 1890" by Douglas Jamiel.]

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5 out of 5 stars

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Detroit: Who Built Her? Who Broke Her? 1620 to 1890 by Douglas Jamiel is a historical book that progresses with the primitive societies of Michigan, filled with beavers, rivers, and woodlands. The Indians who inhabited these areas had their own distinctive way of life before the intrusion by the French trappers. Unlike what historians had accounted for in their works—that the Northern Americans could not resist the superiority of the white culture—the truth is that the Indians were thoughtful enough to appreciate and adopt those Western practices that were seemingly better than theirs. The beavers went into extinction, and with time, the woods were used in construction and manufacturing, while the rivers became the passages for ships. The central message of the book is as to how Michigan, as the author knew it, changed into an industrialized zone.

Douglas describes the struggle among the French, the British, and the Dutch over the exploitation of Michigan and the role Jesuits played in the process. Douglas shows how Black Americans were treated not only as persons inferior in status to Whites but as persons whose ill-treatment is the natural thing to do, used as tools for white services and amusement. Slavery was enabled by the legal policies and institutions of the state, and slave owners fought any move to upturn this state of affairs.

There are several positive aspects of the book. First, the book is properly researched. The numerous citations contained in the book not only testify to the industry with which the author had used in writing the book but also make the facts in the book verifiable. Closely related to this is the fact that the author included endnotes at the end of the book. This shows how knowledgeable Douglas is concerning carrying out proper research. Again, the author used images in the book. This authenticated most of the assertions in the book, independent of the citations.

Some issues can be identified in the book. First, the author had opted for subdividing the chapters into subchapters in the table of contents. However, the author had not proceeded with subdividing the chapters in that manner in the body of the work. Also, the author had titled Chapter 6 'The Not So Calm Before the Storm.' Nevertheless, this is supposed to be expressed as 'The Not-So-Calm Before the Storm.’

There are only a few errors in the book. This tells about the level of professionalism that was employed in editing the book. I will be rating the book 5 out of 5 stars. Despite the negatives identified above, I am certain that they are not grave enough to warrant the deduction of any stars. I will be recommending this book to history lovers and all those who, like the author, wonder what happened to the mighty Detroit.

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Detroit: Who Built Her? Who Broke Her? 1620 to 1890
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