A vivid and revealing portrait of shipboard life as experienced by eighteenth-century migrants from Europe to the New World In October 1735; James Oglethorpe’s Georgia Expedition set sail from London; bound for Georgia. Two hundred and twenty-seven passengers boarded two merchant ships accompanied by a British naval vessel and began a transformative voyage across the Atlantic that would last nearly five months. Chronicling their passage in journals; letters; and other accounts; the migrants described the challenges of physical confinement; the experiences of living closely with people from different regions; religions; and classes; and the multi-faceted character of the ocean itself. Using their specific journey as his narrative arc; Stephen Berry’s A Path in the Mighty Waters tells the broader and heretofore underexplored story of how people experienced their crossings to the New World in the eighteenth century. During this time; hundreds of thousands of Europeans—mainly Irish and German—crossed the Atlantic as part of their martial; mercantile; political; or religious calling. Histories of these migrations; however; have often erased the ocean itself; giving priority to activities performed on solid ground. Reframing these histories; Berry shows how the ocean was more than a backdrop for human events; it actively shaped historical experiences by furnishing a dissociative break from normal patterns of life and a formative stage in travelers’ processes of collective identification. Shipboard life; serving as a profound conversion experience for travelers both spiritually and culturally; resembled the conditions of a frontier or border zone where the chaos of pure possibility encountered an inner need for stability and continuity; producing permutations on existing beliefs. Drawing on an impressive array of archival collections; Berry’s vivid and rich account reveals the crucial role the Atlantic played in history and how it has lingered in American memory as a defining experience.
#1015466 in Books 2011-09-27Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 7.90 x .60 x 5.00l; .60 #File Name: 030017764X240 pages
Review
8 of 10 people found the following review helpful. Not what I expectedBy Matthew SmithThis book wasn't at all what I expected; instead of a look at the settlers themselves this book is an exploration of the settler ideology of the later movements. This book doesn't look at the early leftist settlers; but instead examines the right's version of the settler movement. The author looks at the settler's leaders and how they intellectualize their movement. What the author shows is that this movement is in no way static but ever evolving with the times. This makes them more difficult to confront because they are willing to change their arguments to better fit the times. The problem with this fluidity for the settlers is that it ultimately makes their movement shallow and intellectually hollow.The author follows this movement from its inception as a messianic movement designed to initiate the end times by reclaiming all of the holy land. After the seemingly miraculous victory in 67 it seemed that their movement was God's will; but as the years past and the victory proved not to be the intitiator of the end times but a much more ambiguous victory which produced more questions than answers the settlers ideology lost some of its luster.This is the crux of the work. What started out as a messianic movement has morphed several times into many different things. It pragmatically evolved into a movement of security. As vangaurds of the security establishment's vision of providing the state with strategic depth their ideology became a mix of religion and secular military considerations. This allowed them the best of both worlds in that they became the brave; stoic settlers in a harsh land like the earlier settlers but they could also keep their religous undertones as well.What this book does well is give readers a straight line narrative of how the philosphical underpinnings of this movement has adapted to the very precarious position of a human rights issue today. The author alludes to the fact that this evolution will be the movements downfall because they cannot justify their existence on the same plain as the more secular govenments pragmatic considerations. The author suggests since their messianic mission has failed they have been forced from the ethereal realm to the pragmatic secular world; and this is a realm where they have little intellectual or philosophical backing. The author may be correct; and his discussion of the; realitive; ease of dismantling some of the settlements may bear his arguments out; but I am not sure how gently these settlers may go into that good night. Israel has deep fissures and any confrontation has the ability to open some of these up. In the end we will see because the flow of history seems to be against these settlers.This is a very interesting book that treats its topic very well. The author obviously knows his subject thoroughly and that comes through. Anyone looking to understand the settlers an their movement will be remiss if they skip this excellent work. I highly recommend this book.3 of 5 people found the following review helpful. A lot of potential; very little follow throughBy Christopher M. Whitman Jr.Gadi Taub; a professor at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem where I go; writes a book about the religious and religious Zionist settlers in the West Bank and Gaza. The book reads like long editorials instead of an academic or scholarly work. He put a good amount of personal research; meaning going to settlements and talking to them; but not much academic research. The book is a tid disorganized and does not do in depth analysis. It has some very interesting points and questions brought up but is not consistently coherent. He jumps around so much and gives little new information. The book is a rather quick read and a good introduction to one sect of the settler movement; but there are many other better books for more analysis/history. He seems to be writings from a "why can't we go back to the good ole labor" days instead of really delving into the subject of religious Zionism. He seems to be yearning for a golden age of Zionism; and not its most recent form; which muddles the book's points greatly. Lastly; where he does little to no research he relies on narrative instead of researching the subject and pushes the narrative as fact. The first part of the "Disengagement" chapter is a perfect example of this where he relies on Israeli narrative of Camp David II; and the narrative of Khartoum in 1967; angers the reader.8 of 12 people found the following review helpful. excellent sharp intelligent bookBy Robbie GringrasGadi Taub writes clearly and sharply about the nature of Zionism; and how the settlements are its antithesis. It's a book for any lover of Israel who hates the occupation. Here is the book to help you articulate why the settlements are the enemies of a democratic Jewish state; without spouting ill-informed anti-zionsim. Taub is pro-Israel; anti-settlements; and provides his readers with the balance to keep walking on the tightrope.
