Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War

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Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War

3.83 of 5 stars 3.83 · rating details · 12,644 ratings · 1,383 reviews

HOW DID AMERICA BEGIN?

This simple question launches acclaimed author Nathaniel Philbrick on an extraordinary journey to understand the truth behind our most sacred national myth: the voyage of the Mayflower and the settlement of Plymouth Colony. As Philbrick reveals in this electrifying new book, the story of the Pilgrims does not end with the First Thanksgiving; instead,...more

Hardcover, 480 pages

Published May 9th 2006 by Viking (first published January 1st 2006)

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Aug 30, 2008 Chelsea rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: history, non-fiction, own, 2008

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 Mayflower’s passenge...more 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 Mayflower’s passengers.)

Philbrick won a ton of awards with this one (like, say, the National Book Award), all deserved. He takes an excellent look at a period in time frequently overlooked – American history tends to cover 1620, and then make its way to 1770 and the Revolutionary War in the next chapter (with a slight layover in 1692 for the Witch Trials).

It’s incredibly well written, with an excellent balance between the big picture and individual narratives. He’s liberal with anecdotes, which keeps the book from ever getting dry or boring. He quotes contemporary and first person accounts, but not excessively – this is a book to be read for pleasure, not to be used as a resource. I laughed out loud a couple times, and physically shuddered as well. He reached that all-important goal of bringing his subjects to life.

Philbrick also does a good job of presenting a balanced version of events. (Especially considering that most contemporary sources were, at best, biased, because history, as we all know, is written by the victors.) He’s quick to point out the mistakes on both sides – the rash, racially motivated attacks made by the white settlers, and the never ending litany of missteps made by the Pokanokets, especially “King” Philip.

A few quick observations:

I would very much like to slap Increase Mather across the face. (Preferably so hard that Cotton feels it, too.) What an enormous tool.

These people were crap at naming their children. Everyone was John, Mary, William, or FEAR. Or Cotton. No wonder they were all a little wacked.

I love the irony of having a huge, gluttonous holiday celebration in honor of the Pilgrims, who regularly arrested and punished people for having big holiday celebrations. They would put us all in the stocks.

Is there any worse story than Thomas Granger’s? He will always (and I mean always – it’s already been 350+ years) be known for being convicted of bestiality – and executed for it. That’s embarrassing.

And, finally: How pissed is Miles Standish right now, what with how many times he was called short in this book?
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Dec 16, 2008 Mahlon rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Anyone who enjoys American History

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 (1675-76) f...more

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Oct 27, 2008 Craig rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: history

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 perseverance a...more

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Apr 02, 2012 Jason Koivu rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: history, favorites

A must-read if you're from New England or interested in early colonial era history. Philbrick's Mayflower is written to capture your interest in a way you might not expect a book on the Pil--*YAWN!*--grims could. You'll find much more detail with way more truth in this book than anything you learned about those uptight prigs in elementary school!

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May 03, 2013 Matt rated it 3 of 5 stars

When it comes to American history, we have a tendency towards reduction. We cherish the myth over the reality; the bombastic over the subtle; the simple over the complex. In modern media terms, we prefer the soundbite to the whole speech.

On the Fourth of July, for example, we aren't thinking about competing mercantile interests, unpaid French-and-Indian War debts, or the Townsend Acts. Not at all. Instead, as we get hot dog-drunk and light off fireworks, we're probably imagining a guy with a wi...more

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Feb 23, 2008 John rated it 5 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. We Americans all have some vision of the Pilgrims, from Plymouth Rock to the first Thanksgiving, to what the colonial world looked like. The elementary school version--which has remarkable staying power for many--is the image of religious Pilgrims seeking religious freedom in a new world, nurtured by the help of the natives, giving us our idyllic First Thanksgiving. The revised standard version from the '60s focuses on the decimation of the native populations, the rapacious capitalists among the...more We Americans all have some vision of the Pilgrims, from Plymouth Rock to the first Thanksgiving, to what the colonial world looked like. The elementary school version--which has remarkable staying power for many--is the image of religious Pilgrims seeking religious freedom in a new world, nurtured by the help of the natives, giving us our idyllic First Thanksgiving. The revised standard version from the '60s focuses on the decimation of the native populations, the rapacious capitalists among the first settlers, and perhaps the Pilgrims actual record of religious intolerance.

Into these competing versions comes Nathaniel Philbrick's Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War (2006). He traces events from the development of Puritan communities in England, their migration first to the Netherlands, and finally their hope of establishing an ideal religious community in America.

The Pilgrims had come to America not to conquer a continent, but to re-create their modest communities in Scrooby and Leiden. When they arrived at Plymouth in December 1620 and found it emptied of people, it seemed as if God had given them exactly what they were looking for. But as they quickly discovered during that first terrifying fall and winter, New England was far from uninhabited. There were still plenty of Native people, and to ignore or anger them was to risk annihilation. The Pilgrims' religious beliefs played a dominant role in the decades ahead, but it was their deepening relationship with the Indians that turned them into Americans.

By forcing the English to improvise, the Indians prevented Plymouth Colony from ossifying into a monolithic cult of religious extremism. For their part, the Indians were profoundly influenced by the English and quickly created a new and dynamic culture full of Native and Western influences. For a nation that has come to recognize that one of its greatest strengths is its diversity, the first fifty years of Plymouth Colony stand as a model of what America might have been from the very beginning.

By the midpoint of the seventeenth century, however, the attitudes of many of the Indians and English had begun to change. With only a fraction of their original homeland remaining, more and more young Pokanokets claimed it was time to rid themselves of the English. The Pilgrims' children, on the other hand, coveted what territory the Pokanokets still possessed and were already anticipating the day when the Indians had, through the continued effects of disease and poverty, ceased to exist. Both sides had begun to envision a future that did not include the other.

This leads to a major section of the book, on King Philip's War. Philbrick paints a fascinating picture of some of the personalities and cultural forces that defined the war, tensions not only between English settlers and natives, but within each group as well.

The nuanced vision offered of early New England was very interesting, particularly the earliest discovery and the war, was fascinating. Perhaps the most interesting chapter in the whole thing was the epilogue, from which the quotation above was taken, in which Philbrick not only brought together for summary and analysis everything that had come before, but also looked at the process of mythologizing that occurred in the intervening centuries, with each generation reinterpreting the stories for its own time. There was even, obliquely, an interesting implied (or at least, lightly stated) analogy to our current "war on terror."

Although I've only lived here a year and a half, it was also interesting to get a glimpse at the history of this area that is currently my home. Even for those of you living outside of New England, though, I recommend this book highly. (less)

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Nov 21, 2012 Lisa (Harmonybites) rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Everyone--At the Very Least, Every American

Recommended to Lisa (Harmonybites) by: Ultimate Readling List - History

Shelves: history, non-fiction, religion, ultimate-reading-list

I think were it not that I've been so spoiled by some amazing history books lately, I'd be rating this five stars. It's certainly the perfect book to read right before American Thanksgiving. The Mayflower, as every American schoolchild has been taught, is the name of the ship that brought the "Pilgrims," a group of religious dissenters, to America to establish one of the earliest English colonies. While still on board the male settlers signed the "Mayflower Compact" revered as a precursor to the...more I think were it not that I've been so spoiled by some amazing history books lately, I'd be rating this five stars. It's certainly the perfect book to read right before American Thanksgiving. The Mayflower, as every American schoolchild has been taught, is the name of the ship that brought the "Pilgrims," a group of religious dissenters, to America to establish one of the earliest English colonies. While still on board the male settlers signed the "Mayflower Compact" revered as a precursor to the American Declaration of Independence. There were 102 passengers who took that 65-day voyage--half of them wouldn't survive the winter--yet there are over 35 million of their descendents alive today--about ten percent of America's population. And the Pilgrims wouldn't have survived without the help of the surrounding Native population. We celebrate the harvest feast they held together with Thanksgiving every year--a holiday Philbrick writes "would have probably baffled and appalled the godly Pilgrims." After all, by Philbrick's account, these are people who cancelled Christmas--or at least tried.

This is about a lot more than what the title "Mayflower" might suggest though. It's not just about the voyage or the original settlers. It's more an account of Amerindian/English relations in the first half century or so of the New England Puritan colonies, stretching from the landing in 1620 to "King Philip's War" ending in 1676. Philbrick does as best he can to include the perspective of the Natives, despite the fact that just about every extant account we have was written by the English colonists. He used what "archeologists, anthropologists and folklorists" could contribute to enhance the documentary record. He says the beginnings of this book was inspired by a Nantucket Native American symposium he attended and counts himself in debt to those attending in helping with his research. And certainly such Indian figures such as Squanto, Massasoit--and his son "King" Philip of the Wampanoags--come across as, or even more, vividly as such figures among the Pilgrims as Miles Standish or William Bradford. Philbrick struck me as fair to both sides of the conflicts. As he put it:

My initial impression of the period was bounded by two conflicting preconceptions: the time-honored tradition of how the Pilgrims came to symbolize all that is good about America and the now equally familiar modern tale of how the evil Europeans annihilated the innocent Native Americans. I soon learned that the real-life Indians and English of the seventeenth century were too smart, too generous, too greedy, too brave--in short, too human--to behave so predictably.

It's a great story both in substance and style that flew by--a real page turner. At least for anyone interested in American History. As Philbrick himself complains, we Americans tend too quickly to fly past the territory between the Plymouth Landing and the American Revolution. There's plenty in that period of over 150 years that shaped what we are as a country to be so blithely ignored. Philbrick does Americans a service in bringing some of that history to light. It's well-written, well-researched and sourced, and accessible to the layman.(less)

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Aug 25, 2008 Gary rated it 5 of 5 stars

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 landing in Plymouth the American Revolution, glossi...more 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 landing in Plymouth the American Revolution, glossing over the rich and brawling century-and-a-half spanning these two events. Philbrick zeroes in on the first half-century, stripping away the myth and homily typically associated with the Pilgrims and laying bare a fascinating tale of courage and deceit, of trusts forged and broken, of politics, religion, brutality, and war. All the familiar figures are there - William Bradford, Miles Standish, Pokanoket Indian chief Massoit, Squanto, and Edward Winslow, but Philbrick focuses on less celebrated figures like Benjamin Church and Massoit's son Phillip, who while hardy household names today leave behind legacies that helped shape what would become a century later the United States of America.

This is a story ripe with opportunity for politically correct revisionism, but the author walks a balanced line, alternately praising and condemning the deeds and players of both the English and the Native Americans. We learn, for example, that near-starvation in the first two years had as much to do with the Pilgrim's failed experiment in socialism as it did with harsh winters and poor soil. This led Bradford to adopt a policy allowing each family to grow and hunt not for the "commonwealth", but for themselves. Thanks to Bradford's newly discovered spirit of capitalism, the colony is soon producing a surplus of food. There may be a perverse humor in the irony of contemporary images of God-fearing Pilgrims in tall hats and buckled shoes when matched with the reality of a people who would draw and quarter their enemies and display their heads on pikes. But this is no less naive than euphemistic views of New England's "peaceful and noble Indians", who in fact warred with rival tribes for centuries before the arrival of the Europeans, and showed no lack of talent or imagination for treachery, torture, and manipulation.

In short, "Mayflower" is that rare historical chronicle that reads with the all intrigue and energy of well-written novel, and important expose of an overlooked period of our history with lessons as relevant today as they were three centuries ago. Well done, Mr. Philbrick.(less)

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Aug 05, 2008 Tracy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction, own-it, history

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 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 than that and Philbrick does an amazing job of telling the story without being biased toward one group or the other. What was amazing to discover was that the line wasn't even drawn so distinctly between the two groups.
Ultimately, I believe this is a story about the human condition. How we are all fundamentally the same regardless of background or race.
What most resonated with me while reading this, is how much these people were able to live through without just completely falling apart. I mean, in today's society we get upset if our cable goes out or we need therapy because we can't make our relationships work, or someone shoots someone on the highway for cutting them off. The hardship that both the pilgrims and the natives had to handle is not even comparable! Disease, starvation, and to lose a child is the most gut-wrenching ordeal imaginable and so many had to go through this more than once.
Not to scare anyone off though, this book is not all doom and gloom. There are so many moments of surprise and even funny nuggets of history. And if you live or have ever lived in the New England area you will have a special connection to this historical era.
This book is especially relevant in an election year, when we need to rememember the people who began this country. And regardless of where you fall on the political spectrum, the important thing to remember is that these people were independent thinkers! They didn't have the mind-numbing media telling them what to think or politicians giving them false promises inside fancy speeches. Funny how the key word today is "Change" and that's just what the Pilgrims were searching for, the difference is that they were faithful and knew exactly how they wanted to live, were willing to risk everything for it, and did. Today we hear the word "Change" and applaud with no clue what's behind it, what the implications in that word are.... because, I'm sure as many of the pilgrims would attest, not all change is good.(less)

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Mar 02, 2008 Brian rated it 3 of 5 stars

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 from England ha...more

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May 07, 2008 Ellee rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: book-group-title, 400-500pgs

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 subject. The P...more

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Aug 19, 2007 Tom rated it 3 of 5 stars

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 N...more

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Mar 26, 2009 Terry Earley rated it 3 of 5 stars

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.

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Mar 22, 2009 Janellyn51 rated it 5 of 5 stars

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 5 of 5 stars

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 been diverse tribes, most of them far mo...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-researched,

...more

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Dec 29, 2008 Bill rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: history, non-fiction

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 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: biography-autobiography-or-historic

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 landing of the Mayflower and the settli...more 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 landing of the Mayflower and the settling of Plimoth. Filling in the gaps is always good.

3) I found it very interesting that the Mayflower people came prepared to be set upon by the "savage feathered men" and some were actually a bit disappointed that the "Indians" didn't show up right away and begin hostilities.

In fact, and this, to me, was the most interesting part of the book: the pilgrims and the natives began relations very peaceably. They were very mutually helpful to each other for a good 55 years.

To make a very long story short, it seemed to me that the downfall of the American natives of the area came about (I'm leaving aside prophecy here) because the next generation of pilgrims didn't REMEMBER that the Indians had, in essence, delivered them from their enemies--the elements, disease and starvation. Does that sound important to anyone? Once they didn't see the need for the Indians any longer, they were an impediment to progress and needed to be gotten rid of.

This was very well-written and well researched. The bibliography is almost 30 pages of 8 pt type. The author seemed not to portray the pilgrims as rapacious conquistadors or the Indians as innocent, peaceful, and ill-used as is so prevalent in many histories nowdays. The people were real. Real nobleness. Real pettiness. Real mistakes. Real cruelties. Real mercies.

So, it seems the pilgrim progeny chose to believe that God Himself had delivered them and gave them all the land for their inheritance (forgetting that perhaps the Indians acted as His hands). They set out to annihilate their competitors for the land. The Indians couldn't take the lies and the loss of land and subsequent starvation any longer and waged war--time to send these white skins back where they came from! It pretty much ended in their total destruction either by death or, what the pilgrims thought was more homane, being sold into slavery just to get them out of the picture.

VERY interesting. Of course there was so much more to it. Highly recommended for anyone interested. (less)

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Apr 18, 2013 Francis Gahren rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: nonfiction

In this remarkable effort, National Book Award–winner Nathaniel Philbrick (In the Heart of the Sea) examines the history of Plymouth Colony.

In the early 17th century, a small group of devout English Christians fled their villages to escape persecution, going first to Holland, then making the now infamous 10-week voyage to the New World. Rather than arriving in the summer months as planned, they landed in November, low on supplies. Luckily, they were met by the Wampanoag Indians and their wizene...more

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Feb 01, 2013 Janet Gardner rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: history, cape-cod-and-islands, non-fiction

I love a history that reads like a good novel—full of interesting characters and plot twists and great pacing and fine prose—and this one certainly fit the bill. Living where I do, you might expect me to know a fair amount about the Pilgrims who sailed away from European religious intolerance in a boat I wouldn’t cross a pond in, then stopped briefly here on the Cape to steal a little Indian corn and ransack a few Indian graves before settling in Plymouth to set up a community based on a differe...more

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Dec 22, 2012 Emily rated it 5 of 5 stars

A great book to get an idea of what really happened in Plymouth, and how the Native American population suffered during the founding years of America. Some familiar characters emerge as heroes, and others become villains, contrary to what you were told in school. The story behind Plymouth Rock is revealed (not as glamorous as you thought) and the first Thanksgiving, even though it wasn't called that, is described to be about as heart warming as everyone has come to expect, surprisingly. The Mayf...more

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Aug 11, 2012 Michael rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction, history, colonial-america, colonialism, native-american, religion, england, massachusetts, rhode-island, american-history

I was enthralled with this popular history of the first 60 years of Plymouth Colony starting with the Mayflower landing in 1620. With a focus on the actions and decisions of a limited set of key individuals, Philbrick’s account brings to life the initial desperate events of the colony (half of the initial 102 died the first year) and the early years of dependence on the support of the Pokenoket tribe. I was enlightened to learn how decimation of Indian villages by disease and the competitive bal...more I was enthralled with this popular history of the first 60 years of Plymouth Colony starting with the Mayflower landing in 1620. With a focus on the actions and decisions of a limited set of key individuals, Philbrick’s account brings to life the initial desperate events of the colony (half of the initial 102 died the first year) and the early years of dependence on the support of the Pokenoket tribe. I was enlightened to learn how decimation of Indian villages by disease and the competitive balance between tribes contributed to the ability of the Pilgrims to gain a foothold. In many ways, the sachem (chief) Massasoit was calling the shots in using the alliance with the Pilgrims to enhance his position with respect to rival tribes, and in turn Squanto’s support of the colony as mediator/translator was motivated by his own Machiavellian schemes. Due to past cases of treacherous attacks and kidnapping for slavery on the part of English and French visitors, other tribes to the north and south would not tolerate colonists. Thus, the Indians were not just passive dupes to exploitation and domination by European invades.

Though the Pilgrims goal of religious freedom was not very tolerant of other belief systems (as the Quakers learned and individuals executed for bestiality and other personal crimes), they were not empire builders and there was quite a lot of respect for the Indians at first. Philbrick does well to dwell on the factors that contributed to the surprisingly peaceful subsequent period of colonial growth and expansion for nearly 50 years and then to spend half the book on the causes and details of its breach in King Philip’s war of 1675, which decimated the Europeans and nearly extinguished several of the tribes in southern New England. Philbrick’s coverage of compassionate voices for peace and arrogant stupidity on both sides begs the question of whether the war was inevitable. He points out how a sense of a Greek tragedy pervades the progression from a local conflict to an expanded war between several tribes and colonies throughout New England.

As evident in two other books of his I enjoyed (his survival saga of the whaling ship Essex and his history of the Battle of the Little Bighorn), Philbrick is a master of balancing the use of primary sources and interpretive reflection in a compelling narrative that rivals that of skilled fiction writers. Philbrick clearly did a lot of research to write this book, but I have no way of telling how much of his synthesis is innovative vs. derivative. What I can say is that the book provided me a good foundation to negotiate the myths and divergent interpretations of European colonialism in the New World and to understand patterns that played out disastrously throughout the westward expansion over the subsequent 200 years.
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Jul 26, 2012 Amerynth rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: history, nonfiction, read-2012, american-history, native-americans, war

Nathaniel Philbrick's "Mayflower: A story of courage, community and war" is a wonderful and fascinating look at Colonial America. The book certainly proves that the best stories about the Pilgrims and King Philip's War were certainly left out of classroom lessons (at least mine and I grew up in the area where many of these events occurred.)

The first half of the book focuses on the Pilgrims and their flight from England and later Holland, as they looked to a land of religious freedom (provided it...more

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Feb 14, 2012 Amanda rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book made me realize how little I really knew about what happened after the Pilgrims got here but before the revolution. I feel like I learned a few valuable lessons:
1) Being a Pilgrim was THE WORST. You mostly died. It was really cold and sailing to a new land that you know nothing about is pretty much the most terrifying situation I can think of.
2) It's really easy to forget the fact that the colonists completely destroyed a civilization so that they could own more land. Obviously, I knew...more

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Jan 08, 2012 Steve rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: history, america, new, england, popular, mayflower, favorites

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 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 voyage. The book really starts to get going when they land in the New World, and recounts the colonists difficult first couple of years there. Along the way, the book describes many of the people who had an impact on the new colony. As the years pass, the author goes into less detail, but you still get a good picture of the early development of the New England colonies. The final third of the book tells the reader about King Philip's War: a violent, bloody conflict with the Native Americans in 1675-1676.[return][return]As well as challenging the creation myth surrounding the Pilgrim Fathers, the book's main theme is the rocky, ever-changing relationship between the colonists and the Native Americans. The author does this very well, portraying the complexities of the interaction between the two cultures and showing us that nothing about it is black or white but instead myriad shades of grey.[return][return]This is one of the first popular history books that I've read, and I was very impressed. Nathaniel Philbrick has given the book a novel-like quality, gripping and easy to read without compromising history. The author's main objective has been to tell a story, a true story, as faithful to the actual events as he can be. While occasionally quoting or describing bits from primary sources (such as the book by William Bradford, Plymouth's first leader) he never gets bogged down in the detail. For anyone who wants to read more about a particular part, the massive notes section and bibliography at the back is available.[return][return]The final third of the book relating to King Philip's War was perhaps a bit too long for me, but for man people I imagine this part could be what they like the most so I can't really fault it![return][return]Overall, this was a great book. I urge anyone with an interest in early American History, or anyone who just wants to read a gripping true story, to read this book.(less)

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Jan 07, 2012 Rob rated it 4 of 5 stars

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 the author's excellent...more

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Sep 20, 2011 Richard rated it 3 of 5 stars

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

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Sep 18, 2011 Melanie Guerra rated it 5 of 5 stars

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

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Aug 29, 2011 David rated it 2 of 5 stars

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 s...more

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Mar 22, 2011 Mitchell rated it 5 of 5 stars

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 Pilgrims of...more

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About Nathaniel Philbrick

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.

After grad school, Philbrick worked for four years at Sailing World magazine; was a freelancer for a number of years, during whic...more

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“There are two possible responses to a world suddenly gripped by terror and contention. There is the Moseley way: get mad and get even. But as the course of King Philip's War proved, unbridled arrogance and fear only feed the flames of violence. Then there is the (Benjamin) Church way. Instead of killing him, try to bring him around to your way of thinking. First and foremost, treat him like a human being. For Church, success in war was about coercion rather that slaughter, and in this he anticipated the welcoming, transformative beast that eventually became, once the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were in place, the United States.” — 3 people liked it

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