The Shipwreck That Saved Jamestown: The Sea Venture Castaways and the Fate of America - Historical Nonfiction Book About Colonial Survival and Early American History - Perfect for History Buffs and Classroom Studies
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SKU:17708401
Product Description
The English had long dreamed of colonizing America, especially after Sir Francis Drake brought home Spanish treasure and dramatic tales from his raids in the Caribbean. Ambitions of finding gold and planting a New World colony seemed within reach when, in 1606, Thomas Smythe extended overseas trade with the launch of the Virginia Company. But from the beginning the American enterprise was a disaster. Within two years, warfare with Indians and dissent among the settlers threatened to destroy Smythe's Jamestown just as it had Raleigh's Roanoke a generation earlier. To rescue the doomed colonists and restore order, the company chose a new leader, Thomas Gates. Nine ships left Plymouth in the summer of 1609--the largest fleet England had ever assembled--and sailed into the teeth of a storm so violent that it beat all light from Heaven. The inspiration for Shakespeare's The Tempest, the hurricane separated the flagship from the fleet, driving it onto reefs off the coast of Bermuda--a lucky shipwreck (all hands survived) that proved to be the turning point in the colony's fortune.
Customer Reviews
I had recently read a history of the Jamestown settlement, and learned about this episode in that. While this book also covers some of the history of Jamestown, it is much more. Besides the story of the wreck itself, it goes into the political and religious reasons behind the settlement idea, looks at what is known of the backgrounds and personalities of many of the principals involved, and describes both a ship of that time period, and what an ocean voyage was like. It has a very readable style, so that I found myself often deciding to read "just one more page", and finishing a chapter instead. Too many times I have walked away from a book with on otherwise interesting subject, simply because the writing style was too hard to follow or hold my attention. This book is anything but that. An excellent story, and very well written. As a fan of almost any American history, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and learned a new chapter of it.
