Remaking Boston: An Environmental History of the City and Its Surroundings Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press

摘要

The story of John Winthrop's effort to establish a Puritan "city upon a hill" is part of the canonical narrative of early American history, illustrating important aspects of the theology and culture of Boston's founders. Just as meaningful might be a story that highlights the environment that they settled, starting with a natural harbor so large, deep and calm that it made the rise of a great port city virtually inevitable in an era of shipping and booming commerce. Belying Max Weber's famous analysis, the success of the Puritans might be interpreted as a benefit of the place that they chose to occupy (whether by fortune or good judgment) as much as of any special ethic or ideology.