The Grim Years: Settling South Carolina, 1670-1720 is a graphic account of South Carolina's tumultuous beginnings, when calamity, violence, and ruthless exploitation were commonplace. With extraordinary detail and analysis, John J. Navin reveals the hardships that were experienced by people of all ethnicities and all stations in life during the first half-century of South Carolina's existence—years of misery caused by nature, pathogens, greed, and recklessness. From South Carolina's founding in 1670 through 1720, a cadre of men rose to political and economic prominence, while ordinary...