Posted in Recent Reads

The Shipwreck That Saved Jamestown: The Sea Venture Castaways and the Fate of America by Lorri Glover and Daniel Blake Smith - This book was mentioned in a library newsletter I received, and it came while I was working on lesson plans for our study of the settling and colonization of the Americas in History. I thought it might be interesting to read this for myself, as background for our discussion of Jamestown, and found it to be quite engaging. I have to confess that in some chapters - especially towards the end of the book - I did skim a lot rather than read; but that was more because I was pressed for time than because of the material. Glover and Smith present a well-researched history that, in places, reads like a novel. They rely heavily on - and quote from - original sources such as the first-hand accounts of the colonists. It really is a remarkable story, and one that usually is told only from the perspective of the colonists in Jamestown. For anyone interested in the history of Jamestown, or of Bermuda, I'd recommend this as interesting reading - not nearly so dry as you might expect!