Mayflower Review

The following is my first book review in some time.

For those expecting another gripping Nathaniel Philbrick tale of seafaring adventure like "In the Heart of the Sea" or "Sea of Glory", you will not find what you are looking for in “Mayflower”. This book gives almost no attention to the actual voyage across the ocean. That expectation is not unrealistic considering the title, the cover art and the author's previous books. I deduct one star from my rating for setting the wrong expectations.

Mayflower does give you a decent understanding of the bookends of the history of Plymouth Colony: Its founding in 1620 and King Phillips War in 1675-76. Little serious attention is given to the time in between, particularly with respect to what was happening in Massachusetts and the other Colonies. I understand the need to maintain focus on the subject. However, a chapter or two on the broader settlement of North America that occurred during that crucial period would help provide some context to the events described in the book. For example, Boston - and a constellation of smaller settlements - seems to appear out of the ether at about the midpoint of the narrative.

Moreover, too much of the description of King Phillip's War is repetitive of "Abram's Eyes", which is a lesser known Philbrick history about the Native Americans of Nantucket Island. For recycling much of his work from a previous book, I felt compelled to deduct an additional star.

As for the arguments about whether he was too pro-Indian or too pro-Pilgrim, I thought he was relatively balanced. An author can't touch a subject like this today without annoying some people. So I respect him for trying. That said, his urging of modern day Americans to "understand" the motives of our enemies rather than to kill them came across like a needless platitude. Deduct one star for gratuitously taking one paragraph of a history of Plymouth Colony to make an out-of-context and far too general analogy to the War on Terror, without taking the time to expand on his point for even one page to support his argument. I would not have deducted a star for his believing what he said, it’s just that his presentation betrayed a degree of laziness and condescension that I did not expect from him.

Mayflower is a more ambitious project than Philbrick’s previous books. Unfortunately, he seems to have reached beyond his capabilities and shown he is nowhere near the caliber of a historian as McCullough, McPherson or Ellis. When this book comes out in paperback, I recommend getting it for a nice one-weekend read. But keep your expectations in check.