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Mayflower Book Review

John Machado
Block 4
August 23, 2008

Mayflower Review

The non-fiction book Mayflower was written by Nathaniel Philbrick.   He explains in great detail the true story of the pilgrims of plymouth and other similar settlements in the new world.   He paints a different picture of the pilgrims that is quite unlike anything we have been taught in school.   In addition the book describes their two-month journey across the Atlantic.   Philbrick explains how a weakened tribe of Native American Indians were forced to befriend the Pilgrims.   Mayflower is a detailed book that lets us know the true and often surprising story of the Pilgrims.  
Philbrick’s main argument is that the colonization of New England was not at all similar to the tales of turkeys and Plymouth Rock we learn about in elementary school.   He makes readers realize that the colonization of New England was full of death, starvation, and war.   In elementary school we are taught that the settlers and the native Americans were good friends but in reality they fought each other and took eachother as prisoners.   This fighting ultimately led to King Philips War.   Philbrick wants us to realize that the beginning of our country, led to the end of an entire people.  
Personally, I was not a huge fan of Mayflower.   Philbrick seemed to make his argument that the colonization of New England was one of the bloodiest times in North American history quite clear.   Often times it seemed like I was reading pages full of strange facts that I didn’t really need to know.   While reading, I felt like he was trying to prove that he was the one person in the world that doesn’t think the pilgrims had a turkey dinner with the pilgrims.   I understand that it isn’t suppose to be the most exciting book in the world but with the exception of a few of the chapters, I felt like I was forcing myself to read.   I learned a lot about the colonization of New England but I had trouble enjoying the book.  
The parts of the book that I...