Bernard Bailyn (1922–2020)

This book is a sweeping history of the early colonization of the "New World", beginning with glimpses of the lives of the myriad tribes of Native Americans, and continuing through the stories of not just the Pilgrims, but dozens of ethnic and religious groups who arrived on the American continent seeking a better or different life. It is clear that many arrived expecting Paradise only to find themselves thrust into often violent conflict, from public brawls to religious executions and genocidal campaigns aimed at the annihilation of natives. Because of this hostile environment in the mid 17th century, many settlers turned around and headed back for Europe to escape the bloody terror and misery. This period in American history is not one I knew a great deal about, even as a history major; this book explores the chaotic decades from the establishment of the English settlers' first permanent colony in the Americas, Jamestown, in 1607 up to the violent conflict that essentially routed the Native Americans from New England, King Philip’s War, in 1675-76. Professor Bailyn’s account provided a fresh, but unvarnished, account of how a patchwork of different settlers, both wealthy and poor, sought to recreate an idealized version of their former lives in this "barbarous environment” in the Chesapeake Bay region, the middle-Atlantic region, and New England.… (més)