Synopses & Reviews
"It may be said of us, almost as of the Egyptians, that there is not a house where there is not one dead, and in some houses many. In three months past, die half our company; the greater part in the depth of winter, wanting houses and other comforts, being infected with the scurvy and other diseases, which their long voyage and uncomfortable condition brought upon them; so as there die, sometimes two or three a day."In The Pilgrim Experience readers discover the anguished journey and heroic strength of the Pilgrims through vivid memoirs, letters, and personal accounts. Rod Gragg has amassed the ultimate Pilgrim experience in the first-ever illustrated guide including never-before-published firsthand accounts. Plymouths story began long before the Puritans settled on the North American continent and continued long after. Gragg, author of The Illustrated Gettysburg Reader, tells the captivating journey of a people seeking religious freedom in a new landbeginning with their persecution in England, painful exile, refuge in Holland, ocean voyage across the Atlantic, and struggle to survive among Native Americans in the untamed wilderness. Its the historical book you cant put downa riveting story of a New World discovered in the brisk autumn of 1620 and bought at a devastating price. Stand alongside our nations earliest settlers for some of the most fateful moments in migrations history told by the Pilgrims themselves.
Synopsis
Off with Their Heads or Burned at the Stake?Door numbers 1 and 2 offered a bleak end for the Puritans. Door number 3, however, showed glimpses of hope: a new land, free of religious persecution.
But fleeing the country would be an act of sedition.
Contrary to popular belief that they were stuffy and dour, the sport-loving and well-dressed Pilgrims who braved tumultuous watersliterally and figurativelyfor New World freedom had a zest for life.
Yet life abroad would bring harsh winters, Indian attacks, starvation, and disease. Was it worth the risk?
A hundred brave souls risked life and limb to leave King James Is tyrannythe legacy of the Virgin Queens not so Golden Age”for greener grasses. Along the way they instituted the Mayflower Compact, founded the colony at Plymouth, and overcame impossible odds (including losing half of their number to plague and smallpox during their first winter) to survive.
Follow their journey in The Pilgrim Chronicles: An Eyewitness History of the Pilgrims and the Founding of Plymouth Colony.
Synopsis
A Quest for FreedomAll Americans are familiar with the story of the Pilgrimspersecuted for their religion in the Old World, they crossed the ocean to settle in a wild and dangerous land. But for most of us, the story ends after their brutal first winter at Plymouth with a supposedly peaceful encounter with the Native Americans and a happy Thanksgiving.
Now, through the vivid memoirs, letters, and personal accounts in The Pilgrim Chronicles, you will discover the full, compelling story of their anguished journey and heroic strength. Award-winning historian Rod Gragg brings the Pilgrims to life in this lavishly illustrated guide, filled with moving, eyewitness narratives. From their persecution in England and painful exile in Holland to their voyage across the Atlantic and their struggle to survive among the Indians in an untamed wilderness, Gragg takes you on the harrowing and inspiring journey of a people seeking religious freedom.
About the Author
A former journalist, historian Rod Gragg is director of the Center for Military and Veterans Studies at Coastal Carolina University, where he also serves as an adjunct professor of history. His works have earned the Fletcher Pratt Award, the James I. Robertson Award, and other honors, and have been selected for the Book-of-the-Month Club, the History Book Club, and the Military History Book Club.
Table of Contents
Introduction
1 "Who Can Separate Us from the Love of Christ?"
2 "Rather than Turn, They Will Burn"
3 "They Resolved to Get Over into Holland"
4 "Buttermouths, Lubbers and Manifold Temptations"
5 "They Knew They Were Pilgrims"
6 "They Put to Sea Again with a Prosperous Wind"
7 "They Met with Many Fierce Storms"
8 "They Fell Upon their Knees and Blessed the God of Heaven"
9 "Half their Company Died"
10 "By the Goodness of God, We are Far from Want"
Endnotes
Bibliography
Acknowledgements
Index