Four centuries ago; and thirteen years before the Mayflower; a group of men—led by a one-armed ex-pirate; an epileptic aristocrat; a reprobate cleric; and a government spy—arrived in Virginia aboard a fleet of three ships and set about trying to create a settlement on a tiny island in the James River. Despite their shortcomings; and against the odds; they built Jamestown; a ramshackle outpost that laid the foundations of the British Empire and the United States of America. Drawing on new discoveries; neglected sources; and manuscript collections scattered across the world; Savage Kingdom challenges the textbook image of Jamestown—revealing instead a reckless; daring enterprise led by outcasts of the Old World who found themselves interlopers in a new one.
#239327 in Books Benjamin Woolley 2008-04-08 2008-04-08Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.00 x .82 x 5.31l; .90 #File Name: 006009057X512 pagesSavage Kingdom The True Story of Jamestown 1607 and the Settlement of America
Review
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. How our country really got startedBy SusanNever knew what a struggle Jamestown was. Also wondered why the Pilgrims in 1620 were considered the start of America when Jamestown was founded 1613 and still in existence? Maybe because Jamestown was a bloody starving story...not so nice. This book would make a good movie that could keep an audience's attention.36 of 37 people found the following review helpful. Great stories about our first steps...By Todd E. BabcockI came across this book after hearing the author interviewed on NPR on the anniversary of the Jamestown colony. From just the few minutes I managed to catch from that conversation the author had me rethinking my vague and mostly uninvestigated thoughts on that early settlement.Wooley has a great ability to take well researched and documented accounts and weave a compelling narrative without overly indulging in fantasy or sketches compiled of heresay or assumptions.What took me in about this book was just how much Byzantine politics and motives the early administrators of the colony had coming over from England. (i.e aliases; spies; traitors; defectors; etc.)If you are interested in what the first steps were in The New World before Declarations and Revolutions and why they were made; I would check this out. It's an essential foundation if you are; like me; consuming our countries earliest intentions and ambitions that led us to where we are now.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy CustomerGood book. It was enough to wet my appetite for further reading.
