Making Haste from Babylon: The Mayflower Pilgrims and Their World: A New History by Nick Bunker
| Making Haste from Babylon: The Mayflower Pilgrims and Their World: A New History by Nick Bunker | |
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| Category: History | |
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Reviewer: Robert James
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| Summary: Probably more one for the dedicated historian interested in this time period than for the casual reader, Bunker draws on an impressive list of sources but this can be tough going at times. | |
| Buy? Maybe | Borrow? Maybe |
| Pages: 512 | Date: April 2011 |
| Publisher: Pimlico | |
| ISBN: 978-1845951184 | |
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Using hundreds of previously overlooked documents, British historian Nick Bunker tells the story of the Pilgrim Fathers, starting from the religious climate in England which led to them leaving the country, and continuing through to show how they settled in America, trading beaver skins to let them settle in New England.
Bunker explains right at the start of the book that he's used archive collections from the British Isles to research it and it's clear that this is a very different approach from most previous histories of the Pilgrim Fathers. It's incredibly well-researched – there are just over 30 pages of notes quoting sources and it's hard to think there can be much that the author left out, so crammed with detail is this work. That said, there are points when I wished he had been a little more selective about what to use – the frequent flights of fancy (notably one in which he invites the reader to imagine himself as a bald eagle and swoop around Franklin County for an 8 page journey which seems to last forever) and meandering detours quite often slow the pace of the book down too much to make it particularly gripping for the casual reader.
Bunker certainly has plenty of interesting stories to tell in the 400 pages or so of the main part of this book – I particularly enjoyed reading about Native American Samoset and his friend Tisquantum but his often rather slow style and the amount of the book which feels like it could have been trimmed considerably without any real loss means it's hard to recommend this one unreservedly. Perhaps I should say 5 stars to dedicated historians but just 3 and a half for the casual reader? I'll stress one more time that it's extremely comprehensive and contains a huge amount of information so if you are looking for a really in-depth book on the subject please don't let me put you off!
I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to The Bookbag.
Further reading suggestion: For a more accessible account of one aspect of the 17th century I loved Pirates of Barbary by Adrian Tinniswood.
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You can read more book reviews or buy Making Haste from Babylon: The Mayflower Pilgrims and Their World: A New History by Nick Bunker at Amazon.com.
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