Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick

 genre: history

My knowledge of the Plymouth Colony has expanded somewhat since my elementary school days but in many ways, I knew hardly anything.  My vague notions of what happened to the native population of New England were so spotty I feel embarrassed, having finished this book that begins a few years before the sailing of the Mayflower up through two generations removed from the "landing" at Plymouth rock.

This is the story of how "America" began, in all of its complex and colonial baggage.  It is a story of expectations and desperation and yes, courage, but also treachery and baseness and downright small-minded racist superiority.  Early America is ALL of that.  Our forefathers did amazing things AND they did horrible things.  They had complicated motivations and they fought when they should've talked and compromised and they had really rigid thinking and were sometimes so NOT curious that I wanted to shake them.  

I chose this book because I recently delved into my own family history in early New England I sure got to know some of my great grandparents!  A few of them were really not particularly admirable - one was literally called a "malcontent and rabble-rouser," which I find deeply amusing.  Others I maybe had more strange pride in but nevertheless, this is a story FULL of names and people.  If you focus too hard on remembering every single tribe's name or person's name, the book could be frustrating.  I tried to appreciate the journey without getting bogged down or frustrated in the details - and there are a LOT of details.

Truth: I got bored of war times.  I said it.  Did you even know there WAS a King Philp's War?  And that it was almost three years long, 20 years before the Salem Witch Trials and well before any kind of Revolutionary War?  I had a lot to learn but man this sometimes draggggggged. I had to force myself to read it. I will say, though, I am glad I powered through because I really liked the conclusions the author pulled together at the end, some really good big ideas for me to ponder.  And so it gets three stars for teaching me some important things.  But I can't give it more than that because it took me almost a month to get through it.