The Mayflower Papers: Selected Writings of Colonial New England

by Nathaniel Philbrick

Book Overview

The most important personal accounts of the Plymouth Colony, the key sources of Nathaniel Philbrick's New York Times bestseller Mayflower

National Book Award winner Nathaniel Philbrick and his father, Thomas Philbrick, present the most significant and readable original works that were used in the writing of Mayflower, offering a definitive look at a crucial era of America's history. The selections include William...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0143104985
• ISBN13: 9780143104988
• Release Date: April 2007
• Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.3" x 7.7"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Yet another reason for Thanksgiving!

The ever-wonderful Penguin Classics brings together the distinguished father-son scholars Thomas and Nathaniel Philbrick to edit a small anthology of the earliest documents of American history. Son Nathaniel used these documents to create his National Book Award-winning MAYFLOWER; Dad Thomas no doubt taught the works in his English courses at the University of Pittsburgh. The selections provided elegantly elaborate and support the bare bones knowledge most Americans have of our first colonial forebears. Some may find the writing in all its 17th and 18th century archaic funk to be difficult, but to those who persevere, much like those colonials, the works reward generously. Represented here are William Bradford, Edward Winslow, Thomas Morton, Benjamin and Thomas Church, and, with all appropriate obeisances to multi-culturalism, the fascinating account by Mary Rowlandson of her captivity during King Philip's war. This collection not only complements and supports Philbrick's book on the Mayflower, but also the earlier Penguin Classics EARLY AMERICAN WRITING. Both of these would make excellent textbooks, but are also great reading for those of us who still love the challenges posed by a younger, perhaps more complex language.