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Alan Shaw Taylor

アラン・ショウ・テイラー

Aran Shou Teirā

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1955-06-17 （Portland, Maine, United States）
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Residence History
Portland, Maine (birthplace) → Waterville, Maine (Colby College) → Davis, California (UC Davis) → Boston, Massachusetts (Boston University) → Charlottesville, Virginia (University of Virginia)

Career

Occupations
Historian, Professor, Author
Active Years
1977-
Affiliations
University of California, Davis (faculty), Boston University (faculty), University of Virginia (Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation Professor)
Memberships
American Philosophical Society (elected 2020)

Education

Colby College
Degree: BA
Year of Graduation: 1977
Country: United States
Bachelor's degree
Brandeis University
Degree: PhD
Year of Graduation: 1986
Country: United States
PhD in History

Awards

Bancroft Prize
1996
Work: William Cooper's Town: Power and Persuasion on the Frontier of the Early American Republic
Organization: Columbia University (Bancroft Prize Committee)
Result: 受賞
Beveridge Award
1996
Work: William Cooper's Town: Power and Persuasion on the Frontier of the Early American Republic
Organization: American Historical Association (AHA)
Result: 受賞
Pulitzer Prize for History
1996
Work: William Cooper's Town: Power and Persuasion on the Frontier of the Early American Republic
Organization: The Pulitzer Prizes
Result: 受賞
Cox Book Prize
2007
Work: The Divided Ground: Indians, Settlers, and the Northern Borderland of the American Revolution
Organization: Society of the Cincinnati (Cox Book Prize)
Result: 受賞
National Book Award for Nonfiction
2013
Work: The Internal Enemy: Slavery and War in Virginia, 1772-1832
Organization: National Book Foundation
Result: 最終候補
Pulitzer Prize for History
2014
Work: The Internal Enemy: Slavery and War in Virginia, 1772-1832
Organization: The Pulitzer Prizes
Result: 受賞
Merle Curti Award
2014
Work: The Internal Enemy: Slavery and War in Virginia, 1772-1832
Organization: Organization associated with American Historical Association (Merle Curti Award)
Result: 受賞
George Washington Book Prize
2014
Work: The Internal Enemy: Slavery and War in Virginia, 1772-1832
Organization: George Washington Book Prize Committee
Result: 最終候補
George Washington Book Prize
2017
Work: American Revolutions: A Continental History, 1750–1804
Organization: George Washington Book Prize Committee
Result: 最終候補
New-York Historical Society book prize (Barbara and David Zalaznick Book Prize in American History)
2021
Work: American Republics: A Continental History of the United States, 1783–1850
Organization: New-York Historical Society
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

William Cooper's Town: Power and Persuasion on the Frontier of the Early American Republic

1995 Microhistory / History

Using court records, land records, letters and diaries, Taylor reconstructs the background of William Cooper and the political, economic, and social history of Cooperstown after the American Revolution.

Frontier societyLand speculationLocal politicsMicrohistory

The Divided Ground: Indians, Settlers, and the Northern Borderland of the American Revolution

2006 History / Borderland studies

Explores the borderlands between Canada and the United States after the American Revolution and examines Iroquois attempts to retain control of lands, rethinking the revolution from a borderland perspective.

BorderlandsIndigenous historyPost-colonial conflicts

The Internal Enemy: Slavery and War in Virginia, 1772-1832

2013 History / Slavery studies

Analyzes the interaction of slavery and war in Virginia from 1772 to 1832, showing how slavery influenced society and wartime dynamics.

SlaveryWar and societyBoundaries and repression

American Revolutions: A Continental History, 1750–1804

2016 History / Continental history

Surveys the revolutionary period from a continental North American perspective, depicting the spread and complexity of revolutions through regional interactions and multiple actors.

Continental perspectiveInterregional interactionsPlural histories

Bibliography

  • Liberty Men and Great Proprietors: The Revolutionary Settlement on the Maine Frontier 1760-1820
  • William Cooper's Town: Power and Persuasion on the Frontier of the Early American Republic
  • American Colonies: The Settling of North America
  • Writing Early American History
  • The Divided Ground: Indians, Settlers, and the Northern Borderland of the American Revolution
  • The Civil War of 1812: American Citizens, British Subjects, Irish Rebels, & Indian Allies
  • Colonial America: A Very Short Introduction
  • The Internal Enemy: Slavery and War in Virginia, 1772-1832
  • American Revolutions: A Continental History, 1750–1804
  • Thomas Jefferson's Education
  • American Republics: A Continental History of the United States, 1783–1850
  • American Civil Wars: A Continental History, 1850–1873

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Revival of narrative historyScholarly yet readable proseMicrohistorical methods based on archival detail
Recurring Motifs
Frontiers and colonial lifeBorderlands and conflictsInteraction of slavery and warLocal communities and individual experiences

Legacy

Alan Taylor is highly regarded for applying microhistory and narrative history to early American studies, elucidating local communities, borderlands, and the interplay of slavery and war. A two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, he has had significant influence in academia and on both scholarly and popular histories.

Academic Societies

  • American Philosophical Society (member)

Archives

  • University of Virginia archives (potential holdings related to his work)

Quotes

  • “There is no single unifying narrative linking past and present in America. Instead, we have enduring divisions in a nation even larger and more diverse than that of 1787. The best we can do today is to cope with our differences by seeking compromises, just as the Founders had to do, painfully and incompletely in the early Republic.”
    Source: Essay in Our American Story (2019) (2019)

Trivia

  • Born in Portland, Maine. His mother is author Virginia C. Taylor.
  • One of the few authors to win the Pulitzer Prize for History twice.
  • Received a BA from Colby College and a PhD from Brandeis University.
  • Has taught at UC Davis, Boston University, and the University of Virginia.