MayflowerJust finished…. If ever there was a myth-busting book of the founding of America, it is Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick. Lucid, devastating, sometimes darkly humorous, he details the first 50 or so years of the Pilgrim’s landing, subsequent “Indian” slaughter and founding of New England. He also gives service to the European plague that wiped out 70% of the native population prior to the Pilgrim’s arrival leading to the sense of space and entitlement the Pilgrims felt. Anyone seeking to understand how American could be where it is today politically, culturally and warfare wise, really need look no further than this book. I would have like to have seen more about the rest of the country at a macro level and more about the European thinking of the time, but that would be a bit out of scope.

Originally published on WordPress on July 01, 2007. Migrated to this blog on May 29, 2025.