Mayflower

[sawcutmill]

I just finished reading Nathaniel Philbrick's "Mayflower", Has anybody else read this book ? I could not put it down, but wanted to know if was as good a read for others as I found it. stephen

[Capm Ed]

I read Mayflower coupla months ago. Good reading and I agree, I couldn't put it down. My wife and I stopped off at Plymouth on the way home from Cape Cod. We visited the old courthouse there and the guide was busy reading the book when we got there. He said it was very acurate and it was the first time he had read about slavery in the colonies.
Ed

[Cecil Borel]

I just finished reading it last night. The very fact that I finished it is a good recommendation.

[JimD]

Don't know about it. Fiction or non-fiction, please.

[uncas]

Mayflower 2 turns 50 next year. Lots going to be going on in Plymouth next year. May want to check their website.

[bamamick]

I like Nat's books. He does a good job of keeping it interesting. A lot of the stuff in the book I had no idea about, like the fact that in the place where the Plymouth Colony was founded the Native Americans had been devastated by a horrible plague only a few years before. Thought to have been small pox brought in by the European fishing fleet who worked in that area.

I guess that Nat is more than just a great Sunfish sailor :).

Mickey Lake

[Stu Fyfe]

I'm half way through and it's as good as his other books. Living in Southeastern Massachusetts (the Cape), this book is an excellent historical resource. It makes some sense out of a period in history that was always taught from a Pilgrim/Puritan view point. Very well done.

[DanO]

The book is great. I've done a fair amount of reading about the that period of time (Pilrgims through King Philip's War) and this is the most interesting and well told version.

Since my dingy is tied up to the float next to the Mayflower II and my 24' (fiberglass) sloop is moored about 300 yards away, you might say I have a special interest in the area. By the way, there are also a few beautiful wooden boats in Plymouth Harbor, especially this year. If the owner of the ketch rigged "Gracie" (looks like a Herreshoff design?) is on this forum, he/she should should be proud of that little gem!

Dan

[uncas]

Sounds like an interesting book. Will see if the local lib has it.
Always like reading about one of my ancestors on the Mayflower although some appear to have been, in my opinion, misrepresented or even maligned by various authors. Heck, everyone has an opinion.

[k4lmy]

Hi Fellows.. Thanks for the info on the book, which I take to be a new one.. will have to look for it.. As for King Phillips War.. I have a stake in that one.. My mothers family line came from one of the seven or eight that survived the massacre at Deerfield. Would like to see if the book has anything to say about two that connect to the family. Too many years chasing climbing the family tree..

Henry

[uncas]

Henry
Can relate. In 1977, I received an invitation ( with a black border no less ) to a reinactment of the Cherry Valley Massecreeeeee which some of my ancesters were on the losing end of. Decided not to go as I figured the winning side just want to finish us all off as the they failed to do so the first time around.

[sawcutmill]

Yes, I too , am a descendant of the Mayflower pilgrims, and Roger Williams. Part of the family tree went to Brookfield, where they were killed by the Indians there, it seems like that a lot of folks lost family there, and in the various battles during that time.
I find that much history has been lost over time as NP points out, that the following generations lost the sense of history and hardship, regarding the relationships they had with the Indians .It is amazing that anyone even survived, let alone prospered in those begining years.Of course, it would be another story to tell the history through ther Indians perspective.

[uncas]

Ah heck...we are probably related. Afterall, there were only what 102 passengers on the Mayflower and winters were a lot longer back then...global warming!

[sawcutmill]

of the 102 passengers, almost 1/2 perished in the first 2 years, including many children. The next ship to arrive brought mostly men, of which there were very few eligble women available, i think the percentage was 10 or 15% women.Or 10 men to evry women. dont quote me, but there are some other interesting facts like the # of descendants now equal several million.

[uncas]

Birth control was not a consideration.