The Mayflower

By Kate Caffrey

Book Overview

The ship itself was obscure and small, valued at a mere 128 pounds, eight shillings, and fourpence. Each passenger had a total area the size of a single mattress under a five-foot ceiling in which to cook, eat, sleep, dress and all the rest of living.

During the months-long journey, one Pilgrim died. Another, washed overboard, was miraculously washed back on deck. A crew member, not so fortunate, perished. The landing at Plymouth was on the morning of Monday, December 11, 1620.

Ahead of this brave band lay a harsh winter, which robbed more than half the settlers of their lives. When spring came at last, 54 people were left, 21 of them under sixteen. But when the Mayflower sailed back to England, not one survivor asked to return.

The men and women of the Mayflower did not come seeking fame or profit. They sought--and found--peace. The agreement they drew up before landing was described by John Quincy Adams as "the first example in modern times of a social compact or system of government instituted by voluntary agreement conformable to the laws of nature, by men of equal rights and about to establish their community in a new country."

This book reconstructs the voyage that linked European civilization and America, the facts behind what was to become the first legend of the American people, a pioneering journey that took nearly four centuries to come to life as it does in these pages.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1442242485
• ISBN13: 9781442242487
• Release Date: October 2014
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
• Length: 392 Pages
• Weight: 1.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.2" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

The Right Title?

"The Mayflower" is about as complete an historical compendium as you'll ever want to read on a subject. Thoroughly researched, it's loaded with names, dates, anecdotes, and other trivia--some interesting, some not. And that's where the book bogs a bit: there may be too much data, at least for reading excitement. If the goal is a textbook and fact-based understanding of the matter, look no further. Caffrey's book is the Mayflower encyclopedia. If you're interested in the more recent writing trend toward historically accurate "faction," in which the author inserts more drama to make the reading more pleasurable, you may be disappointed. This book is extremely well written, but a little dry.Another minor matter is the title. While the ship is the early focus of the book, and Caffrey does return to the question of its final disposition in the last few pages, the meat of the text has little to do with the ship or the great voyage. This is a story about the Pilgrims themselves, of the Plymouth Plantation they founded, and of their Puritan existence and legacy. Any one of these three might have made a more appropriate title for the book.All in all, "The Mayflower" is a great choice for those interested in learning the truth about America's early history. It left me curious to read more about the other early colonies at Jamestown, Boston, and New York. --Christopher Bonn Jonnes, author of Wake Up Dead.