author
Robert Beverley
A sharp-eyed chronicler of colonial Virginia, this early American writer is best known for a lively 1705 account of the colony's politics, people, and everyday life. His work remains one of the clearest firsthand portraits of Virginia in the early 1700s.
1 Audiobook
The History of Virginia, in Four Parts
by Robert Beverley
About the author
Born in colonial Virginia in the late 1660s or early 1670s, Robert Beverley Jr. was a planter, public official, and historian. He served in the colony's government, including work connected to the House of Burgesses, and wrote from the perspective of someone deeply involved in Virginia's political life.
He is remembered chiefly for The History and Present State of Virginia (1705), often described as the first published history of a British colony written by a native of that colony. The book mixes history, political commentary, and observations on daily life, and it helped shape how readers in Britain understood Virginia.
Beverley's writing stands out for its direct, readable style and for the way it records the world around him in concrete detail. For listeners interested in early America, his work offers both a historical document and a vivid personal view of colonial society.