Synopses & Reviews
Captain John Smith's voyages throughout the new world did notend--or, for that matter, begin--with the trip on which he was captured and broughtto the great chief Powhatan. Partly in an effort to map the region, Smith coveredcountless leagues of the Chesapeake Bay and its many tributary rivers, anddocumented his experiences. In this ambitious and extensively illustrated book, scholars from multiple disciplines take the reader on Smith's exploratory voyagesand reconstruct the Chesapeake environment and its people as Smith encounteredthem.
Beginning with a description of the landand waterways as they were then, the book also provides a portrait of the nativepeoples who lived and worked on them--as well as the motives, and the means, therecently arrived English had at their disposal for learning about a world only theythought of as new. Readers are then taken along on John Smith'stwo expeditions to map the bay, an account drawn largely from Smith's own journalsand told by the coauthor, an avid sailor, with a complete reconstruction of thewinds, tides, and local currents Smith would have faced.
The authors then examine the region in moredetail: the major river valleys, the various parts of the Eastern Shore, and thehead of the Bay. Each area is mapped and described, with added sections on how theNative Americans used the specific natural resources available, how Englishsettlements spread, and what has happened to the native people since the Englisharrived. The book concludes with a discussion on the changes in the region's watersand its plant and animal life since John Smith's time--some of which reflect thenatural shifts over time in this dynamic ecosystem, others the result of theincreased human population and the demands that come withit.
Published by the University of Virginia Pressin association with Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network, and the U.S. National ParkService, Virginia Department of Historic Resources, and Maryland HistoricalTrust.