“An important book on a significant period in North Carolina history.”

- William S. Powell

"’Poor Carolina’: Politics and Society in Colonial North Carolina, 1729-1776 is a very good book based on substantial research. It is clearly written, with choice quotations effortlessly incorporated. Each chapter has an unobtrusive introduction and succinct conclusion. Ekirch has filled a large gap in the history of North Carolina."

- Jerome J. Nadelhaft, William and Mary Quarterly

“The theme of this very good book is: ‘If poor countries appear to be unstable, it is not because they are poor, but because they are trying to become rich.’ North Carolina in the late colonial period, 1729-1776, was poor, politically unstable, yet moving toward cohesion . . . . [a] sophisticated account.”

- George C. Rogers, Jr., American Historical Review

“A good and useful book. It clarifies the previously obscure history of public life in North Carolina and, more important, illuminates the process of political development in British America.”

- Russell R. Menard, Journal of Southern History

“A good illustration of what Bernard Bailyn has defined as ‘the ultimate purpose of all historical scholarship, comprehensive narration.’ A. Roger Ekirch has combined the techniques and skills of several practitioners of the new history in a spare, but insightful examination of a turbulent half century in North Carolina's neglected history.”

- Diane Sydenham, Reviews in American History

“His analysis is insightful and the tale is a fascinating one that commands attention from those interested in economic development and politics in this crucial era.”

- Jack Roper, Journal of Economic History

“Ekirch’s book, well-written and admirably researched in a vast store of original documents, offers fresh perspectives.”

- Jeffrey J. Crow, Journal of American History

“It is beautifully written, well researched, imaginatively conceived, and it should bring much pleasure and enlightenment (as well as a raised eyebrow occasionally) to any serious student of North Carolina history.”

- David T. Morgan, Business History Review

“Not until the appearance of this sophisticated, exhaustively researched, and persuasive interpretation by A. Roger Ekirch of Virginia Tech has any book convincingly accounted for the social and political turbulence that beset North Carolina during the years after it became a royal colony in 1729.”

- Richard G. Stone, Jr., Register of the Kentucky Historical Society

“A revealing examination of a neglected period in North Carolina.”

- Charles Sermon, The State (Columbia, S.C.)

“A must for any even casual student of North Carolina history.” -

- George Raynor, Salisbury Sunday Post