The bestselling author of Blue Latitudes takes us on a thrilling and eye-opening voyage to pre-Mayflower America On a chance visit to
Plymouth Rock, Tony Horwitz realizes he’s mislaid more than a century of American history, from
Columbus’s sail in 1492 to
Jamestown’s founding in 16-oh-something. Did nothing happen in between? Determined to find out, he embarks on a journey of rediscovery, following in the footsteps of the many Europeans who preceded the
Pilgrims to America.An irresistible blend of history, myth, and misadventure,
A Voyage Long and Strange captures the wonder and drama of first contact. Vikings, conquistadors, French voyageurs—these and many others roamed an unknown continent in quest of grapes, gold, converts, even a cure for syphilis. Though most failed, their remarkable exploits left an enduring mark on the land and people encountered by late-arriving English settlers. Tracing this legacy with his own epic trek—from Florida’s Fountain of Youth to Plymouth’s sacred Rock, from desert pueblos to subarctic sweat lodges—Tony Horwitz explores the revealing gap between what we enshrine and what we forget. Displaying his trademark talent for humor, narrative, and historical insight,
A Voyage Long and Strange allows us to rediscover the New World for ourselves.
Background Information
Christopher Columbus failed to find India, but discovered the western hemisphere and introduced the peoples of both west and east to products, religions, forms of government and unfortunately disease. The first permanent English settlement in America was Jamestown in Virginia, first settled in 1607. Plymouth Rock is known as the place upon which the Pilgrims first set foot, although the historical accuracy of the tradition is suspect. The Pilgrims were those members of the Puritan community who voyaged across the Atlantic in the Mayflower to find a new life of religious freedom.
