Product Description

The most important personal accounts of the Plymouth Colony—the key sources of Nathaniel Philbrick’s New York Times bestseller Mayflower

National Book Award winner Nathaniel Philbrick and his father, Thomas Philbrick, present the most significant and readable original works that were used in the writing of Mayflower, offering a definitive look at a crucial era of America’s history. The selections include William Bradford’s “Of Plymouth Plantation” (1651), the most comprehensive of all contemporary accounts of settlement in seventeenth-century America; Benjamin Church’s “Entertaining Passages Relating to Philip’s War 1716,” an eye-opening account from Church’s field notes from battle; and much more. Providing explanatory notes for every piece, the editors have vividly re- created the world of seventeenth-century New England for anyone interested in the early history of our nation.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #344238 in Books
• Published on: 2007-04-24
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

From Booklist
In their introduction, the Philbricks write that William Bradford's Of Plymouth Plantation probably is the greatest book written in colonial America. Bradford tells the story of how a group of Puritan Separatists founded the first permanent settlement in New England and how they proved to be surprisingly flexible and pragmatic diplomats in the dealings with the Indians. A large part of this book is an excerpt from that volume. Also included is a selection from Mourt's Relation, a book that Bradford coauthored with Edward Winslow, and one from Winslow's Good News from New England. There's a selection from Thomas Morton's iconoclastic New English Canaan, Mary Rowlandson's The Sovereignty and Goodness of God, and Benjamin and Thomas Church's Entertaining Passages Relating to Philip's War. This original paperback offers provocative details of that time and place. George Cohen
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author
Nathaniel Philbrick, a leading authority on the history of Nantucket, is the author of the New York Times bestseller Mayflower, the national bestseller Sea of Glory, and the National Book Award winner In the Heart of the Sea.
Thomas Philbrick is a professor emeritus of English at the University of Pittsburgh.

Customer Reviews

Yet another reason for Thanksgiving!
The ever-wonderful Penguin Classics brings together the distinguished father-son scholars Thomas and Nathaniel Philbrick to edit a small anthology of the earliest documents of American history. Son Nathaniel used these documents to create his National Book Award-winning MAYFLOWER; Dad Thomas no doubt taught the works in his English courses at the University of Pittsburgh. The selections provided elegantly elaborate and support the bare bones knowledge most Americans have of our first colonial forebears. Some may find the writing in all its 17th and 18th century archaic funk to be difficult, but to those who persevere, much like those colonials, the works reward generously. Represented here are William Bradford, Edward Winslow, Thomas Morton, Benjamin and Thomas Church, and, with all appropriate obeisances to multi-culturalism, the fascinating account by Mary Rowlandson of her captivity during King Philip's war. This collection not only complements and supports Philbrick's book on the Mayflower, but also the earlier Penguin Classics EARLY AMERICAN WRITING. Both of these would make excellent textbooks, but are also great reading for those of us who still love the challenges posed by a younger, perhaps more complex language.