We here at The Junto would like once more to thank everyone who participated in this year’s March Madness tournament, including those who nominated books, all of the voters, and the authors who made some of these match-ups very close indeed.
To close out this year’s lunacy, we thought it would be fun to check in with the winner. Michael Jarvis, a professor of history at the University of Rochester, took home top honors this year for his 2010 book In the Eye of All Trade: Bermuda, Bermudians, and the Maritime Atlantic World, 1680-1783. The Junto caught up with Jarvis by email to get his thoughts on the tournament, his book, the field of Atlantic history, and the challenges of a major research project.
Over 600 votes were cast in the Championship Game of Junto March Madness 2014—an NCAA Tournament-like bracket that pitted some of the best books in early American history against each other (or, at least, those published since 2000). Unlike last year, when Edmund Morgan’s American Slavery, American Freedom was the runaway winner from start to finish, this year’s tournament provided a nonstop series of upsets, with no number-1 seed making the Final Four, and the championship game involving a 6-seed squaring off against a 13-seed. 
Upsets ahoy! It was another bad day for top seeds in Junto March Madness, three out of the four more highly-seeded books losing out at the Elite Eight stage. Find out who’s still standing after the jump!
The first weekend of the NCAA tournament is done and dusted, and while Cinderellas like Dayton and Tennessee are making their way to regional finals, so the best early American history books since 2000 are getting ready for their equivalent of the showdown at Madison Square Garden. As befits such a grand stage, there are some marquee matchups. Who will prevail? As ever, your votes will decide! 
Yesterday, your favorite books on Atlantic, Native American, and religious history all slugged it out against each other. Today it’s the turn of histories of race and politics. Will Francois Furstenberg score an upset over T.H. Breen? Will Vincent or Christopher triumph in the battle of the Browns? And can Michael Jarvis extend his run as the lowest remaining seed? Your votes will decide it all! 
The Junto 