Mayflower

Penguin Audio could not have chosen a better narrator for MAYFLOWER than the consummate actor Edward Herrmann, one of Audiofile's Golden Voices. It seems like Herrmann was born to play an aristocratic, dapper New Englander as far back as 1973's Paper Chase and as recently as last week's "Gilmore Girls." His forceful, eloquent voice conjures up rough seas and misty New England mornings, and the twinge of sadness in his tone seems more than appropriate. The book is worthy of the performer, a scalding tale of the voyage of the MAYFLOWER and the first half-century of life in the Plymouth colony. It's a very sad book, an unvarnished account of ambition, greed, and violence with not enough bravery, honesty, or loyalty. This is the history they don't teach in school. It's a troubling lesson you will not forget. M.S. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine

Starred review from February 6, 2006
In this remarkable effort, National Book Award–winner Philbrick (In the Heart of the Sea
) examines the history of Plymouth Colony. In the early 17th century, a small group of devout English Christians fled their villages to escape persecution, going first to Holland, then making the now infamous 10-week voyage to the New World. Rather than arriving in the summer months as planned, they landed in November, low on supplies. Luckily, they were met by the Wampanoag Indians and their wizened chief, Massasoit. In economical, well-paced prose, Philbrick masterfully recounts the desperate circumstances of both the settlers and their would-be hosts, and how the Wampanoags saved the colony from certain destruction. Indeed, there was a first Thanksgiving, the author notes, and for over 50 years the Wampanoags and the Pilgrims lived in peace, becoming increasingly interdependent. But in 1675, 56 years after the colonists' landing, Massasoit's heir, Philip, launched a confusing war on the English that, over 14 horrifying months, claimed 5,000 lives, a huge percentage of the colonies' population.
Impeccably researched and expertly rendered, Philbrick's account brings the Plymouth Colony and its leaders, including William Bradford, Benjamin Church and the bellicose, dwarfish Miles Standish, vividly to life. More importantly, he brings into focus a gruesome period in early American history. For Philbrick, this is yet another award-worthy story of survival.

Author Nathaniel Philbrick strips away the prettiness of what we learned in grade school about the Pilgrims and their religious beliefs. We hear accounts of their pulling out the bowels of live Indians, stealing their food, and taking their possessions. Life in the New England colonies offered more death and disease than freedom at first, and the truthful aspects of the settlers' struggles must be rated "R." George Guidall narrates the gruesome details as he tells a cozy story, varying his expression and emphasis to maintain the listener's interest in every sentence. Somehow he knows how to pronounce the hundreds of native names and places as if he used the words every day. J.A.H. (c) AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine