Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents vii
3. Acknowledgments ix
4. Introduction: “Our Folly and Ruining Singularity” 1
5. 1. Garrison Towns, Corporate Boroughs, and the Search for Order under the Virginia Company 23
6. 2. From Corporate Communities to County Courts in the Early Stuart Empire 56
7. 3. The Political Geography of Empire in the English Revolution 86
8. 4. Planters, the State, and the Restoration City 116
9. 5. Towns, Improvement, and the Contest for Authority in the 1680s 148
10. 6. The Imperial City and the Solidifying of the Plantation System 181
11. 7. Urban Growth and Country Thought in the Planters’ Golden Age 219
12. Epilogue: “This little Common wealth” 253
13. List of Abbreviations 271
14. Notes 273
15. Index 333