He specializes in the Atlantic World and Early American history, including issues of slavery.
He won the Bancroft Prize in 2003 for his The Indian Slave Trade: the Rise of the English Empire in the American South, 1670-1717.
He previously held the Warner R. Woodring Chair in Atlantic World and Early American History, and was Director of The Center for Historical Research at Ohio State University.
[1] Twice he taught for the American Heritage Association in London.
He currently[2] holds the Lyndon B. Johnson Chair of U.S. History at Texas Christian University.