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Aug 30, 2008

Chelsea rated it:

Spoiler Alert: The Mayflower lands in Plymouth! Rocks fall, all the Native Americans die.

(One of the most interesting things about Mayflower is how little of it actually dealt with the ship itself. The Pilgrims are settled (well, “settled”), and the Mayflower headed back to England to fall into disrepair and be sold for scrap by page 80. More than half the book is spent on King Philip’s War and the events that lead to it, which actually concerns the two generations after the Mayfl More...

8 comments like (13 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2008

Mahlon rated it:

Nathaniel Philbrick's book "Mayflower" appears at first glance to be merely a recounting of the Pilgrims journey to the New World and their miraculous survival that first winter culminating in the first Thanksgiving, that's all here, but takes up only about 80 pages of the 450+ page book. In reality, Philbrick offers the reader a complete history of Plymouth Colony from 1620-1691 (when it was merged into Massachusets Bay colony) The bulk of the narrative focuses on King Phillip's War ( More...

2 comments like (6 people liked it)

Oct 27, 2008

Craig rated it:

Profoundly readable history of the Mayflower and the Pilgrim's Plymouth Colony settlement in the early 17th century. Much of what I was taught about this was either wrong or grossly misleading. It is astounding what the early settlers had thrown at them and managed to barely survive. Brutal weather, horrible leadership, devastating diseases, native American attacks and betrayals, and massive food shortages plagued the settlers right from the start and never let up. It's a story of perseveran More...

3 comments like (3 people liked it)

Feb 23, 2008

John rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Aug 25, 2008

Gary rated it:

Beyond Turkeys, Cranberry Sauce, Tall Hats, and Buckled Shoes

Nathaniel Philbrick's remarkable "Mayflower" is everything you'd hope a history book to be: illuminating, lively, and authoritative. This was simply a terrific read, a fascinating glimpse into the events and people serving as the first bricks in our nation's foundation.

Beyond the fairytale images of "The First Thanksgiving", most basic American history skips from the Mayflower's 1620 landin More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Aug 05, 2008

Tracy rated it:

MUST READ!! Even if you're not a history buff, you will benefit from finally hearing the true story of the roots of this country. Philbrick bridges the gap between the prevailing ideals of this time, the first being the sweet story- of the pilgrims and natives sitting down for turkey and indian corn and pie, trading goods and stories alike, the second being the idea that those brutal English arrived and forced the natives off their land- Bad English, Bad! Of course, it's much more complicated th More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 02, 2008

Brian rated it:

I found this book to be very informative. The beginning of the book, which described the Puritans struggle to come to America, was interesting. I also thought that the descriptions of the initial days of their lives in the foreign land, largely surviving only on the provisions they brought with them and coping with much colder weather than they were used to, was fascinating.

The middle portion of the book, which described life for the Plymouth Rock colony after other other groups More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

May 07, 2008

Ellee rated it:

In this non-fiction title by Nathaniel Philbrick, which won the National Book Award in 2oo6, we return to those American icons, the Pilgrims. Philbrick's engaging prose puts the formation of the Plymouth colony and the Pilgrims' interactions and their relationship with the Native Americans under a historical microscope. (I am imagining an extra diminutive Miles Standish wriggling on a glass slide, but that's beside the point).

This is the only balanced book I've encountered on this su More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 19, 2007

Tom rated it:

Interesting read, and by far the best account of the Pilgrims' ordeal that I've seen so far. The first half of the book is a real page-turner which details the pre-Mayflower days in England and Holland -the ordeal of finding financing while avoiding persecution from their mother country - and moves on to the 10-week voyage and the harrowing first winter in Plymouth. The author then skips forward about 40 years, to give his account of King Philip's war and the consequent annihilation of most of More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Mar 26, 2009

Terry rated it:

I found the account of my ancestor who was swept overboard and barely rescued in this book. It added to our family culture.

This account of the Mayflower and the subsequent colonies in New England was balanced, detailed and quite readable.

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Mar 22, 2009

Janellyn51 rated it:

I loved this book. I'm descended from the Mayflower. Digerie or Degory Priest was my Pilgrim. His daughter Mary married a crusty old sailor, Phineas Pratt, thereby spreading Pratt's far and wide. I get the biggest kick out of being related to someone who knew Squanto! Until I figured that out, the Mayflower meant little more to me than that I got Turkey on Thanksgiving. Then you start to figure out that when they got here, there was nothing but woods, and it was freaking freezing, and there was More...

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Mar 03, 2009

John rated it:

MAYFLOWER is so much more than I expected.
More than just a telling of the story of the Mayflower and the Pilgrims' voyage and their settlement in New England, it is the story of a great cultural clash: Europeans vs the native "Indians."

Nathaniel Philbrick shows readers what the Pilgrims were like, what their past had done to form them, and what their expectations were for life in the New World. Likewise, he shows the "Indians"--the native peoples--to have More...

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Feb 05, 2009

Bookmarks Magazine added it

Mayflower rethinks the events and players that gave rise to a national mythology about Pilgrims living harmoniously with their Indian neighbors. Instead, Philbrick tells a story of ethnic cleansing, bloody wars, environmental ruin, and the deterioration of English-Indian relations. While he introduces familiar elements, Philbrick also recasts well-known characters like Miles Standish ("Captain Shrimp"), William Bradford, and Benjamin Church. Most critics agree that he provides a well-r

More...

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Dec 29, 2008

Bill rated it:

This is one of the top five books I've read this year (2008). While many Americans are in love with the myths of the Mayflower Pilgrims, the first Thanksgiving and all the trimmings, the times were far different than myth would have it. This is not revisionist history, this is a carefully researched and unblinking look at life in 17th-century New England. Death was a frequent visitor in this rather bleak environment. The relationship with the indigenous population was definitely love/hate. The I More...

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Nov 22, 2008

K. rated it:

I read this as part of study for a homeschool history group the kids and I are involved in. I give it high ratings for a few reasons.

1) I have a hard time with straight, historical, non-fiction (gasp-I know, I should be better). This book was extremely readable. In fact, I couldn't put it down.

2) This book fills in the time period from a few years before the voyage to about 1676, the end of "King Phillip's War." So you get a lot more history than just the landi More...

2 comments like

Jan 08, 2012

Steve rated it:

Genre: Popular History[return]Pages: 358 + 150 pages of notes, bibliography etc.[return][return]'Mayflower' is an account of the Pilgrim Fathers' journey to America, and the story of the first 60 years of the Plymouth colony (and as time goes by, other colonies too). The book starts somewhere before their journey to the New World begins, explaining the circumstances and background of their decision to leave England, and indeed Europe, behind. The author then spends a chapter or so describing the More...

0 comments like

Jan 07, 2012

Rob rated it:

Why is it hard to read this book, especially the second half?

Is it because it describes a bloody war between previously peaceful Indians and colonists, a war that sealed apparently forever the antagonism between the two races, and relegated native Americans to outsider status in their own land?

Yes. And because of the horrendous slow-motion details Philbrick provides of this war, and the convincing case he makes that it might not have happened this way. For emphasized by More...

0 comments like

Sep 20, 2011

Richard rated it:

Is there a genre called pop history? If there is, this is surely a representative title. It's an easy read, and Philbrick offers a politically correct version of events which has certainly had mass appeal. The title is misleading, though. It in fact only applies to the first part of the book; the second part deals with an event that took place 55 years hence, namely King Philip's War, or as some historians suggest it might more appropriately be called, the Second Puritan Conquest. Of course, at More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 18, 2011

Melanie rated it:

This book should be the basis for all US History classes in high school, and mandatory reading in college, regardless of major. This is a highly engaging,intellectual discussion of the genesis of the United States of America. The story of the Mayflower, its passengers, their decades of establishment (no it was not just that first year we all know about with that Hollywood Thanksgiving ending), and how their children took so much of what their parents had achieved for granted. It's a story that s More...

0 comments like

Aug 29, 2011

David rated it:

Good research here and lots of historical facts about the Mayflower, the early days of settlement, and the increasing tensions with the native inhabitants of the New World, but the presentation was generally unimaginative. It took the form of a plodding linear trudge through time. It was at times amazing to consider what the pilgrims went through and what they put the Native Americans through, but it wasn’t until the final chapter that the author pulled the pieces together and gave a narrative More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Mar 22, 2011

Mitchell rated it:

Really a tremendous work. Philbrick really cuts through all the mythology and PC and gives you the Pilgrims and the Indians as they really were. The title though is a little misleading. It's really about southern New England in the 17th century and how it developed then blew-up. Especially fascinating is Philbrick's take on how these developments would affect all of America's historical development. I was especially pleased with his descriptions of the political divisions between the Pilgrim More...

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Jan 28, 2011

John rated it:

I've been a big fan of Philbrick's writing ever since I saw the documentary based upon "In the Heart of the Sea," and then ran out to buy the book. While that book is much more of a high-seas adventure/horror story, "Mayflower" is a more "grounded" history of the early Puritan colonies in America, and particularly their relationships with the Native American population that they displaced. As a result, this is also a much more political history that may prove cont More...

0 comments like

Dec 16, 2010

Mike rated it:

I'm no history buff, but my wonderful wife is. She borrowed this from the library for me, and I have to say I'm thankful for it.

It's a very interesting read; mostly the detailed description of the Pilgrims and their struggle to come to New England, their struggles to find a proper settlement site, and their struggles to survive.

We all remember the Thanksgiving story we first heard in elementary school, but how much of that is accurate? ... I was fascinated to learn how t More...

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Aug 24, 2010

Laura added it

Facts:
Firsat Thanksgiving 1621, late Sept/ear Oct. ate 5 deer, ducks, geese corn,squash,peas, barley beans, pottage (stew),turkey, fish-cod,striped bass, bluefish, ate with fingers and knives no forks, drank beer,played games
Mayflower-a sweet ship, typical merchant vessel, square rigged, bowed high, castlelike super-structures fore and aft, 180 tons, 100', hold could accommodate 180 casks or tuns of wine, crossed channel with English wool return with French wine
Miles Standish-b More...

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Jul 21, 2010

ICPL added it

In 1620, one hundred and two Pilgrims arrived on the Massachusetts coastline. They intended to create a new political and religious settlement in the new world that was separate from the Church of England. However, their plan was easier said than done. Nathaniel Philbrick’s Mayflower follows the story of death, determination, and regional power play that is the true story of the Pilgrims.

Philbrick focuses on two people, first generation Governor William Bradford and second gener More...

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Jun 06, 2010

Jodi rated it:

I love learning about history. A historical fiction book can make my day! But, this book is nonfiction and difficult to get through at times. It started off pretty interesting and throughout the book, it's amazing to find out about the myths that have been passed on through the years in American history about the Mayflower voyage, but all-in-all, I felt like I was trying to get through a college required reading. I was cramming to get it done before bookclub and came within 50 pages of finis More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 20, 2010

Mike (the Paladin) rated it:

Unabridged audio book.

I read ("listened to" in this case) this over Thanksgiving a while back. It's a pretty good attempt at an even handed treatment of the subject. I find that while earlier versions of the story tend to view the Pilgrims universally as heroic (not a bad thing for young students in my view) the more recent attempts have gone the other way. There seems to be a need to see them almost as villains. They were of course, human, a mixture of good and bad. Many o More...

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Jan 19, 2010

Steven rated it:

Nathaniel Philbrick's "Mayflower" is a wonderful rendering of the founding of the Plymouth Colony and its first half century.

The book traces the founding event in 1620 to disaffection by a set of English Puritans. They moved to the Netherlands and sought to assure passage to the New World. The ship that they used for this adventure was, of course, the Mayflower.

The book traces the difficult voyage of 102 passengers over two months. Living conditions were nasty More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 20, 2009

Susan rated it:

As a writer of history, Philbrick shines. He's obviously a very good researcher. His writing is clear and he does his best to make a wide cast of characters recognizable to the reader though eventually I had a little trouble recalling the Willet's from the Winslow's and the Williamses. But I don't fault Philbrick for that.

He starts the book in England where he introduces us to a group of fundamentalist protestants endeavoring to separate from the Church of England. Their journey f More...

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Sep 17, 2009

Mike rated it:

In this account of early colonial New England, Philbrick reveals far more about the Mayflower’s story than what most of us pick up in second grade Thanksgiving celebrations. In fact, the title is somewhat misleading as the book actually contains two interlocked narratives. The first concerns the Pilgrims (and the other Englishmen who sailed with them) who came over on the famous ship and established the colony at Plymouth. Philbrick’s depiction of their struggles points to the depth of motiva More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

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