In this pathbreaking work, Clark tells the story of the first generation of newspapers in the American colonies set against the history of the press in London and the English countryside. This book explores how information once designed mainly for private transmission became public and how this reflected the broad changes emerging in colonial society. Charles Clark's book is a lively and scholarly treatment of the earliest newspapers in the history of colonial America ... this is a well researched and informative volume which makes a solid and helpful contribution to its subject ... a salutary foundation to further work.