Captain John Smith : Jamestown and the birth of the American dream
Hoobler, Dorothy2006
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"In the predawn darkness of April 21, 1607, three small ships groped for landfall along the North American coastline. Confined below decks - and most likely in chains - was John Smith, a young, hot-tempered fellow accused of plotting mutiny and facing the possibility of execution. Many of the crew expected Smith to be hanged once they reached Virginia - and were shocked when Smith was named as one of the seven people who would make up the governing council of the new colony, a decision made before the ships left England. This caused many to wonder: just who was this John Smith, this brash, red-bearded nobody who seemed to have such powerful connections?"."That question has been asked repeatedly for centuries; now, here is the most definitive answer. Captain John Smith explores the true history behind the man who would become the person most directly responsible for the survival of the Jamestown colony. Based on Smith's own writings - which history has proven to be accurate - and on letters and diaries from other Jamestown colonists and archives in both Virginia and England, this enlightening volume focuses in riveting detail on the years Smith spent in Jamestown and his efforts to promote the colony after his return to England, while also covering his swashbuckling earlier life."."Using newly discovered material, historians Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler present a well-rounded portrait of the Jamestown colony and Smith's accomplishments there, as well as new information on the Native Americans Smith and the other colonists encountered. The famous tale of Smith and Pocahontas carried down through history has distorted and even falsified their actual lives, turning them into colonial America's Romeo and Juliet. The Hooblers demythologize Smith's relationship with Pocahontas - who in reality was a preadolescent child - and examine the truth behind her efforts to rescue Smith from death, possibly more than once."--BOOK JACKET.
Main title:
Captain John Smith : Jamestown and the birth of the American dream / Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler.
Author:
Imprint:
Hoboken, N.J. : John Wiley & Sons, c2006.
Collation:
xi, 274 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm.
Notes:
Includes index.Includes bibliographical references: p. 251-259.
Contents:
Dreams of glory -- "To conquer is to live" -- Voyagers west -- The "first mover" of Jamestown -- A charge of mutiny -- Disease, dissension, and death -- The great American myth -- Conflicting agendas -- Seeking the future -- Smith vs. Newport -- Smith vs. Powhatan -- Smith takes charge -- "My hands have been my lands" -- The dream survives the man.
ISBN:
0471485845 (pbk)9780471485841
Language:
English
Subject:
Smith, John, 1580-1631Colonists -- Virginia -- Jamestown -- BiographyExplorers -- America -- BiographyExplorers -- Great Britain -- BiographyFrontier and pioneer life -- Virginia -- JamestownJamestown (Va.) -- History -- 17th centuryJamestown (Va.) -- BiographyVirginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775
BRN:
16900
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