What Do Mayflower's Bring?

The Pilgrims landing at Plymouth Rock is an iconic moment of American history.  The small colony was nearly wiped out in the first few years through sickness, hunger and fighting among the each other and the native Americans.  My maternal grand mother  joined the Mayflower Society after tracing the family lineage to Samuel Fuller, the colony's "self-taught" surgeon.  Nothing makes history more compelling than a personal connection. And so I collected the following books.

1.  Mayflower, Nathaniel Philbrick (2006). Philbrick sets a dark theme of starvation, Indian wars with less than pious Pilgrims.   He starts with the Pilgrims departure from England and ends with the creation of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1677.  Named one of the best books of 2006 by the NYT.  Pictures and sketches throughout.  Bought used at BJ's Books in Warrenton, VA.

2.  The Plymouth Adventure, Ernest Gebler ((1950). Voyage of the Mayflower presented as a novel.  Later turned into a Hollywood movie starring Spencer Tracy and Gene Tierney.   Bought used at the State Department Book Store.



3.  William Bradford of Plymouth Plantation: 1620-1647, Edited by S.E. Morison (1952). William Bradford was the main chronicler for the voyage of the Mayflower and the settlement of the Plymouth Colony.  He later become governor of the Colony.  Journals and letters edited by the great American historian Samuel Elliot Morrison.  Bought used at the State Department Book Store.



4.  Winthrop's Journals: 1630-1649 (Two Volumes)(1908). Winthrop led the second wave of migrants from England to Massachusetts in 1630, and served as governor for 12 of the colony's first 20 years of existence. Winthrop first wrote of the young colony as a "shining city upon a hill."  With maps and facsimile.  Bought used at the Book House in Arlington, VA.