Historian Alan D. Watson uses transcribed primary source materials to illustrate what life was like in North Carolina's earliest days. Sources utilized include legislation, court records, wills, estate inventories, road orders, diaries, journals, letters, newspapers, church records, and manuscript collections. Topics addressed include character, family, immigration, taverns, criminality and law enforcement, homes and possessions, health and mortality, towns, travel and transportation, religion, education, and recreation and entertainment. The unusual approach means it is less readable for a general audience, but historians and genealogists should enjoy it. While the author could not select every item fitting each category and those wanting fuller treatment of any subject still need to plow through the same source groups to ensure comprehensiveness, the book serves as a good introduction. ( )