Mayflower: The story of a great rock and clash of peoples

     

          Just finished reading Nathaniel Philbrick’s book, Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community and War. Interesting read.

          Not long ago, Philbrick’s book on Custer’s last stand joined our book shelves. That was also a good read.

          Mayflower probably ought to be renamed, “Fraught with Peril: Pilgrim Wars with Native Americans.” The book covers the Mayflower’s most famous voyage and follows the struggles of the passengers who stepped foot on Plymouth Rock in 1620 and then into history, but Philbrick’s primary research covers the wars fought by the European settlers against the Native Americans in the decades after the settlers arrived.

          King Philip’s War, the most severe of the Pilgrims’ campaigns, gets extended coverage.

          Philbrick gives readers a glimpse at familiar figures, such as Miles Standish. Philbrick links the Mayflower Compact with the later developments that were completed by the founding of the United States of America and he makes it clear that the Pilgrims, who fled Britain to North America in order to gain freedom to worship as they wished, still considered themselves Englishmen and Englishwomen.

          Interesting to note then that it was Englanders who began the slave trade on our continent when captured Native Americans were shipped off to various locations around the world to live as slaves. Yes, Britain ended legalized slavery before the United States did, but the Brits started it in the first place.

          Philbrick’s wonderful research also includes native sources.

          While the book is an interesting history about an amazing period, there is a minor criticism: The footnotes are in the back of the book. Your loyal blogger would rather read footnotes on the page upon which they are referred to instead of fishing around in back pages for the proper note.

          Near the end of the book there is a history of Plymouth Rock, considered here to be the greatest rock of all time. It is the bedrock of our society, the Rock of Ages and earthen anchor for our historic compass. Your loyal blogger has visited Plymouth Rock and considers it the most important rock in the history of our world, the site of the Pilgrims landing.

          More than a boulder, it is The Rock.

          Stepping over The Rock, the history in Mayflower is important and the writing is good enough to make Mayflower a worthwhile read.

          Hoping the same can be said for this blog, we thank you for reading.