In the popular Great Events from History style, this new series puts an emphasis on events that shaped American history. This two-volume sets takes readers on a journey across Atlantic Ocean to discover the New World through the settlement of the first English colonies.

Virtually any schoolchild knows that Christopher Columbus, a Genoan by birth but sailing under the flag of King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile, opened the Americas to exploration by European adventurers. His three voyages to the New World were just the start of a massive cultural and economic exchange between the countries of Europe and what would become those of the Americas, including the future United States.