This is an really interesting book that tells the story of the Mayflower. I consider myself a good student of history, but I learned a lot of information from this book. ( )

Interesting if you want to know more about this era, but probably not enticing to the casual reader. ( )

Mayflower focuses on the period between the Pilgrims' arrival in Massachusetts and the end of King Philip's War. It's a fascinating period, and if all you've ever heard is the Thanksgiving Story propagated every November, you're in for a big surprise. I knew, of course, that without the help of Squanto and Massasoit the Pilgrims would never have survived the first year in America. However, I had no idea of Squanto's duplicity; apparently he "played his own game" and tried to pit Massasoit and the Pilgrims against each other to his own advantage. Funny how they manage to leave that out of the Thanksgiving tradition! (As a side note, in The Pilgrims' Party by Sadyebeth & Anson Lowitz, the Thanksgiving tale I read as a child, Squanto is portrayed as a boy. Interesting, given that Squanto was actually in his late 30s or early 40s. Considering that The Pilgrims' Party is labeled "a really truly story" on the cover, it is stunningly ignorant of the actual facts of the Pilgrim story.)

Nathaniel Philbrick uses as many primary sources and early secondary sources as he could find. The book is definitely well-researched, and an extremely in-depth look at a people who in truth are nothing like the history we've since invented for them. Both Natives and Pilgrims have been twisted over the years to suit the needs of America. I really appreciated his attempts to tell the Native story, since that is one we almost never hear.

Minor nit-picking specific to the audio CD (which has since been returned to All Ears): Each CD "chapter" was 10+ minutes long, and there were only four or five per disc. It was a bit of a pain if I wanted to take a CD out and put it in a different CD player, because there wasn't an easy "stopping" point. I wish they'd broken up the chapters a little more. ( )

I had always wondered how we moved so quickly from the first Thanksgiving feast to the French and Indian wars. This book fills in this gap beautifully. It shows how the diseases spread by the first European fishermen devastated the eastern seaboard and thereby cleared away land that the pilgrims claimed. The book goes on to detail how later rising population pressures led to increased conflict and eventually war. I found the book to be easy to follow and quite entertaining. ( )

Sometimes a difficult, boring read, but I was motivated because I am a descendant of John Alden and Priscilla Mullins Alden. I enjoyed the gathering of information. ( )