Peter C. Mancall

It's not often that I would go out on a limb as early as the first days of March and write that I have found one of my top books of the year. But I'll make an exception in this case, and have absolutely no hesitation in doing so. Peter Mancall's Hakluyt's Promise: An Elizabethan's Obsession for an English America (just out from Yale University Press) is a well-written, meticulously-researched account of the life of the man who rates as the single more important figure in creating the "spirit show more of colonization" in England during the latter years of Elizabeth I's reign.

Richard Hakluyt, educated as a cleric, spent the majority of his life collecting, translating, and publishing travel accounts. These included the writings of those who explored the East Indies, China, and Russia (among other places) - but the Americas quickly became his main focal point. Long before it was popular, Hakluyt saw the potential for English expansion (both in terms of trade, colonization, and the extension of Protestantism) in the northern portions of America, and he worked relentlessly to promote that potential.

Through the publication of his collections of travel accounts - Divers Voyages touching upon America (1582), The Principall Navigations, Voiages, and Discoveries of the English Nation (1589), and a greatly-expanded and more America-centered version of the latter published as The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques and Discoveries of the English Nation (3v., 1598-1600) - not to mention the many other accounts of which he encouraged publication, arranged translation or supported with his imprimatur, Hakluyt laid the groundwork for
the system of English colonization that would begin with the attempts at Roanoke and finally succeed (after a fashion) with the Jamestown settlement.

Carefully using a variety of contemporary sources to fill in the documentary gaps which surround Hakluyt (and they are many), Mancall has managed to recreate his remarkable life. Though he never traveled farther abroad than Paris (he was granted permission to go to Virginia in 1606, but didn't go, never saying why), Hakluyt became - through his extensive reading and publication on the subject - the expert witness of choice on all matters concerning exploration and travel. When the East India Company needed advice, they called on Hakluyt. When publishers or authors wanted to promote their books, it was Hakluyt's 'blurb' they sought. Mancall tells us why that was.

One of the most fascinating and welcome parts of this book was the inclusion of significant research into the publishing and printing worlds of Hakluyt's era. Mancall argues, convincingly, that Hakluyt recognized the potential of the printed word for speading his message, and put the new technologies to optimal use. Synthesizing this information with the intellectual history and the biographical account, Mancall has created a brilliant narrative which deserves wide attention.

http://philobiblos.blogspot.com/2007/03/book-review-hakluyts-promise.html show less

An interesting topic, and a well-written book. It is quite easy to read -- but not really original.

Henry Hudson took the Discovery to what is now known as Hudson's Bay in 1610, the fourth of his voyages of exploration. He was seeking the Northwest Passage. He never came home -- but his ship did, with a handful of sick, starving sailors aboard. This is all that is certain. The survivors admitted to mutiny, and there were bloodstains on the ship -- but the surviving sailors blamed the mutiny, show more and the bloodstains, on men who had died on the trip home. They said that Hudson, several of his allies, and several sick men were set adrift in a small boat -- but all claimed to have been surprised by the mutiny.

To this day, we do not know what really happened. On the one hand, the tale of mutiny seems likely -- the crew could have blamed Hudson's death on scurvy or native attacks, after all. The fact that they admitted to something worse implies that the story is at least partly true. But who was in charge? And what happened to Hudson after he was cast adrift? We simply do not know.

And this book adds little to the story. It reminds us of such facts as are known. But there are no new hypotheses and no new data. If you don't know Hudson's story, then it is a good introduction. But if you do know the story, you won't learn much. show less

This is not an earth-shaking little book, but if you're looking for a quick and dirty survey of relations between the Indians and the settlers in colonial America you could certainly do a lot worse. From there Hinderaker & Mancall move on to explain the Backcounty contribution to destabilizing the British North American empire, thus helping to bring on 1776 and all that.

A good biographical-historical treatment of Thomas Morton, perhaps taking him a bit too much at his word, but none the worse for that.