Monumental...Narrett has written the definitive history of an incremental genocide; it makes grim but important reading.--Steve Donoghue "Open Letters Review" (4/17/2025 12:00:00 AM)

A bracing reminder of the vicious animosities among the native tribes of North America.--Peter W. Wood "New Criterion" (10/1/2025 12:00:00 AM)

Draws attention to a people's vigorous, creative, and long-standing agency in affirming a sense of collective identity...an informed, astute investigation of Cherokee survivance.-- "Kirkus Reviews" (1/14/2024 12:00:00 AM)

Impressive...superb addition to the study of Cherokee life through the particular lens of diplomacy.--Adam J. Pratt "AAG Review of Books" (2/19/2026 12:00:00 AM)

An enjoyable, enlightening, and captivating portrait of the Cherokee and how they faced the adversity and onslaught of struggle and change that threatened their very existence...Narrett's is military and diplomatic history of the highest quality. It is also American history.--Clifford A. Wright "New York Journal of Books" (4/1/2025 12:00:00 AM)

Magisterial...maps the Indigenous nation's outsized influence on the history of the republic that dispossessed them of so much land and esteem...a commanding work of scholarship.--Hamilton Cain "Chapter 16" (5/19/2025 12:00:00 AM)

Narrett helpfully uses the concept of Cherokee peoplehood as the book's central thread to pull the reader through an encyclopedic nearly six hundred pages of Cherokee history.--Kathleen DuVal "Arkansas Historical Quarterly" (2/1/2026 12:00:00 AM)

Military and diplomatic history at its very best. Narrett's account of the Cherokee people's shifting political ties and their efforts to cope with transformations that upended their society is impressively sophisticated.--John W. Hall, author of Uncommon Defense: Indian Allies in the Black Hawk War

With a deep dive into previously unpublished sources, Narrett has written the most comprehensive history of the eighteenth-century Cherokee people to date. He investigates their complicated geopolitical environment, their relations with other tribal people, and their strategic maneuvers on the chessboard of the European colonial powers. In doing so, he offers insight into Cherokee values, the role women played in war and peace, and the forces that transitioned the Cherokees from autonomous towns that shared values, history, and a sense of the sacred to the beginnings of the unified nation that maintains this heritage today.--Margaret Verble, author of Stealing

With his unparalleled knowledge of archival sources, David Narrett details the roles of Cherokee warriors and diplomats in the development of what became the southeastern United States. This is a sure-footed narrative about a dramatic period long before the era of the Trail of Tears.--Daniel K. Richter, author of Before the Revolution: America's Ancient Pasts

A meticulously researched narrative of Cherokee foreign policy from the founding of Charles Town in 1670 through the early 1800s. Readers learn nearly as much about Creek, Catawba, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and British colonial history as they do about the Cherokees.--Greg O'Brien, author of Choctaws in a Revolutionary Age, 1750-1830

David Narrett's The Cherokees is a master class in historical analysis. This deeply researched book draws readers into the world of the Cherokee people as they fight to not only survive but thrive. Destined to become an instant classic, The Cherokees is a must-read.-- "Gregory Smithers, author of Reclaiming Two-Spirits: Sexuality, Spiritual Renewal & Sovereignty in Native America"

Rich with personal stories and deep historical insight, this book reveals the Cherokee people's remarkable ability to adapt and endure.-- "Do South" (4/1/2025 12:00:00 AM)

Publisher: Belknap Press

Pub date: 2026-10-20

Length: 608 pages