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Mayflower : A Story of Courage, Community, and War Paperback – January 1, 2006

by Nathaniel Philbrick (Author)

4.5 3,420 ratings

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The oft told tale of how the Pilgrims & the Indians celebrated the First Thanksgiving does not do justice to the history of Plymouth Colony. Instead of an inspiring tableau of tranquil cooperation, the Pilgrim's first half-century in America was more of a passion play in which vibrant, tragic, self-serving, & heroic figures struggled to preserve a precarious peace--until their peace erupted into one of the deadliest wars ever fought on American soil. The English fatalities were catastrophic, but the rebelling Indians were virtually obliterated as a people. The promise of the First Thanksgiving had given way to the horror of total war.

A hundred years before the signing of the Declaration of Independence, this culminating event-King Philip's War-brought into disturbing focus the issues of race, violence, religious identity, & economic opportunity that came to define America's inexorable push west. But as the Pilgrims came to understand, war was not inevitable. It would be left to their children & grandchildren to discover the terrifying enormity of what is lost when two peoples give up on the difficult work of living together.

More then 375 years later, in a world that is growing more complicated & dangerous by the day, the story of the Mayflower still has much to teach us.

-Nathaniel Philbrick

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Viking; (1st,2006) edition (January 1, 2006)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 461 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0739475770
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0739475775
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 6.4 ounces

Best Sellers Rank: #5,835,077 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #7,438 in U.S. Colonial Period History

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4.5 3,420 ratings

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Nathaniel Philbrick

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Nathaniel Philbrick

Life at a Glance

Born

1956 in Boston, Mass.

Educated

Linden Elementary School and Taylor Allderdice High School in Pittsburgh, Pa.; BA in English from Brown University in Providence, RI, and an MA in America Literature from Duke University in Durham, NC

Sailing

Philbrick was Brown's first Intercollegiate All-American sailor in 1978; that year he won the Sunfish North Americans in Barrington, RI; today he and his wife Melissa sail their Beetle Cat Clio and their Tiffany Jane 34 Marie-J in the waters surrounding Nantucket Island.

Married

Melissa Douthart Philbrick, who is an attorney on Nantucket. They have two children: Jennie, 23, and Ethan 20.

Career

After grad school, Philbrick worked for four years at Sailing World magazine; was a freelancer for a number of years, during which time he wrote/edited several sailing books, including Yaahting: A Parody (1984), for which he was the editor-in-chief; during this time he was also the primary caregiver for his two children. After moving to Nantucket in 1986, he became interested in the history of the island and wrote Away Off Shore: Nantucket Island and Its People. He was offered the opportunity to start the Egan Maritime Foundation in 1995, and in 2000 he published In the Heart of the Sea, followed by Sea of Glory, in 2003, and Mayflower, due in May 2006.

Awards and Honors

In the Heart of the Sea won the National Book Award for nonfiction; Revenge of the Whale won a Boston Globe-Horn Book Award; Sea of Glory won the Theodore and Franklin D. Roosevelt Naval History Prize and the Albion-Monroe Award from the National Maritime Historical Society. Philbrick has also received the Byrne Waterman Award from the Kendall Whaling Museum, the Samuel Eliot Morison Award for distinguished service from the USS Constitution Museum, the Nathaniel Bowditch Award from the American Merchant Marine Museum, and the William Bradford Award from the Pilgrim Society.

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Thomas Erickson

Way beyond HS history of the Mayflower,Pilgrims.Puritans and Indians

Reviewed in the United States on October 11, 2011

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Another great book by Nathaniel Philbrick. I read his In The Heart of the Sea...5 stars...see my review.

Mayflower reads very well with lots of action. Its 462 pages plus some B/W pictures of some of the people,maps, equipment and places told about in this book. There is a huge amount of notes and a great bibliography where readers can get more information. The actual reading of the book is 361 pages. It reads fast. I read it in a little over 2 days. This is a great book..just look at the almost 200 five star ratings on Amazon!

In high school history I had a one day lesson, a little about the Mayflower, the Pilgrims and Puritans and some of the New England Indian tribes of the early to mid 1600s. Just a speck of history.

Nathaniel Philbrick goes much, much deeper into the Mayflower and the different Pilgrims and Puritans and many more Indian tribes and the Mayflower Compact. We see the Pilgrims trying to get religious freedom in the new world, yet not being open to other religions. We see the differences in the Puritan, Pilgrims and Quakers and how they really did not get along very well due to differences in religion and how each were governed. We see the different crops planted by the native Americans. lobstering, catching of game, and fishing to survive. Also the role of using Herring fish as fertilizer is shown. The Governors of Plymouth and the military commanders are shown.Also the King Philip war is shown and the eventual killing of the menacing "Indian King" King Philip. Also the great deeds of Benjamin Church in the Indian wars who was a believer of allowing the use of friendly Indians to help fight against the warrior attacking Indian tribes rather than Captain Samuel Mosley who believed the only good Indian was a dead Indian. We see the many massacres of both whites and Indians.

Also how the Indians actually did save the starving original Pilgrims with their corn, game, fish and lobster as the crops the pilgrims had planted did not do well in the new world, as it was very late in the year and cold. The Pilgrims would of starved to death. We see the huge death toll from disease and little food of the original Pilgrims and the massive percentage of New England colony people killed and Indians killed in the Indian Wars.( over 8% and up to 80% respectfully) A much greater percent of the population killed than the Civil War or any of the wars the US later had.

I won't ruin the book with more description. Just say there is much, much more. There is probably tid bits of information you never heard about or information with a differnt slant than taught in school.

A fantastically well researched book, rich in description and action. Mayflower 5 stars and recommended. I liked Nathaniel Philbrick's In The Heart of the Sea and Mayflower so much I bought his books... Sea of Glory and the Last Stand and will review.

7 people found this helpful

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Linda Linguvic

Well researched history of the Pilgrims, but its a slow read.

Reviewed in the United States on August 17, 2007

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This book took me a long time to read. It's so well researched that there is information to absorb on every page. I was fascinated. The story of the Pilgrims described by the author goes far beyond what I ever imagined and certainly gave me a really thorough understanding about the truth of the voyage and settlement that most Americans think of as the beginning of our country. The year 1620 was a long time ago. It was another world from what we know today. And it certainly did take a lot of courage for the small group of Pilgrims who set off to an unknown world. They had their faith to sustain them, of course. And a trust in what they were doing. Because they were having such a hard time in England, they had set up their settlement in Holland where there was more religious tolerance at the time. But they saw that their children were becoming Dutch and they wanted to go someplace where they could still be English.

After a difficult voyage they arrived in the Cape Cod area of America and later moved a bit more inland. At that time, the Indians had just gone through a period of awful disease, later believed to be viral hepatitis which they caught from French sailors. More than 90 percent of the native population succumbed to this disease and the Pilgrims found areas where crops had been cultivated that had been abandoned. They stole some corn from a gravesite because they were so hungry and later had to deal with the Indians about this. But at first there was a truce of sorts and the Indians did help out the people.

I hesitate to use the term "the Indians" though. There were a lot of tribes, and some were historic enemies of each other. And so there were constant clashes and treaties as these tribes fought each other and changed alliances with the Pilgrims. Most of the Pilgrims did not survive that first winter, but later more settlers came from England and the colony grew. So did the warfare with the Indians. Eventually, there was an extremely bloody war. Both sides were guilty of atrocities. Both sides felt they were right. The rest, as they say, is history.

While I read the book I felt I was right there, in the 17th century, a fly on the wall watching the various groups destroy each other. The author made me understand the challenges for each of these groups, but I must say I felt most sorry for the Indians, who eventually lost the war and whose way of life was destroyed forever.

"Mayflower" is non-fiction all the way. It did NOT read like a novel. That is its strength as well as its weakness I can only absorb a limited number of facts before I tend to get sleepy. I think the book belongs on history shelves and will stand the test of time as a fine historical document. I recommend it as fresh way to view America's beginnings. I'm glad I read it. But it is not for everyone.

6 people found this helpful

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kevbutnobacon

Good read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 4, 2024

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Oh Philbrick you magnificent genius. Once again he has woven a book of immense knowledge and intrigue. I would recommend.

Joanne

Five Stars

Reviewed in Canada on April 27, 2016

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Thanks

One person found this helpful

Eric John

Very Read-able

Reviewed in France on August 27, 2013

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I ordered this book by Philbrick after enjoying "In the Heart of the Sea" so much and so far "Mayflower" is also fascinating. He really explains the Pilgrams (or rather "Separatists") religious beliefs and how they motivated their every every action.

Just moving to Leiden, Netherlands was a momental task for these people who had never before travelled outside of their small rural corner of England before.

But then to set off for America were no English colony had ever been successful, (except for the commercial project at Jamestown– where they suffered horrendous loss), shows their religious devotion and determination.

But this isn't a book just singing the praises of the Pilgrims, he spends most of the book looking at the years FOLLOWING, during King Philip's War, where the Native American's and the Colonists turn on each other.

Fair minded, well-documented and very read-able.

One person found this helpful

Cliente Kindle

Chi avrebbe mai detto....

Reviewed in Italy on June 12, 2013

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...che i pii pellegrini del Mayflower si comportasssero così. Un libro profondo che rivela molte cose ed entra nella vita quotidiana dei prmordi dell'America del Nord. Una lettura indispensabile per capire ANCHE gli Stati Uniti di oggi.

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Hubert Reisinger

Highly recommended

Reviewed in Germany on December 2, 2011

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This is a book on two stories:
The first story tells the gathering of a religious community which endeavours to found a new existance beyond the ocean and its first adventures on cape cod an Plymouth harbor.
The other story tells the relationship of the native Americans to this colony an how it came to a forceful end after nearly two generations of more or less peaceful co-existance.
I do not know which is the more formative story for what the United States are today. When exploring what is the essence of today's America, you will find reflexions from both.
In any case both stories are great examples for the saying that the best stories have been written by life itself.

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