The First Thanksgiving

by Nathaniel Philbrick

The real story of the First Thanksgiving from the New York Times bestselling author Nathaniel Philbrick

One of America’s most acclaimed historians takes on the nation’s First Thanksgiving, telling us the true story behind the tale we think we know so well. In this selection from the New York Times bestseller Mayflower Nathaniel Philbrick recounts in riveting detail the truth about relations between Plymouth Colony and the British crown and between the colonists and Native American tribes, shining a light on the courage, communities, and conflicts that shaped one of our country’s most celebrated national holidays.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, American History, Thanksgiving, Historical

50 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 12, 2013

About the author

Philbrick was Brown’s first Intercollegiate All-American sailor in 1978; that year he won the Sunfish North Americans in Barrington, RI; today he and his wife Melissa sail their Beetle Cat Clio and their Tiffany Jane 34 Marie-J in the waters surrounding Nantucket Island.

After grad school, Philbrick worked for four years at Sailing World magazine; was a freelancer for a number of years, during which time he wrote/edited several sailing books, including Yaahting: A Parody (1984), for which he was the editor-in-chief; during this time he was also the primary caregiver for his two children. After moving to Nantucket in 1986, he became interested in the history of the island and wrote Away Off Shore: Nantucket Island and Its People. He was offered the opportunity to start the Egan Maritime Institute in 1995, and in 2000 he published In the Heart of the Sea, followed by Sea of Glory, in 2003, and Mayflower. He is presently at work on a book about the Battle of Little Big Horn.

Mayflower was a finalist for both the 2007 Pulitzer Prize in History and the Los Angeles Times Book Award and was winner of the Massachusetts Book Award for nonfiction. In the Heart of the Sea won the National Book Award for nonfiction; Revenge of the Whale won a Boston Globe-Horn Book Award; Sea of Glory won the Theodore and Franklin D. Roosevelt Naval History Prize and the Albion-Monroe Award from the National Maritime Historical Society. Philbrick has also received the Byrne Waterman Award from the Kendall Whaling Museum, the Samuel Eliot Morison Award for distinguished service from the USS Constitution Museum, the Nathaniel Bowditch Award from the American Merchant Marine Museum, the William Bradford Award from the Pilgrim Society, the Boston History Award from the Bostonian Society, and the New England Book Award from the New England Independent Booksellers Association.

from his website

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Happy Thanksgiving! (Even though it’s just an ordinary Thursday here in the U.K.) This is a short (59-page), enlightening account of the Pilgrims’ settlement at Plymouth Rock and the uncertain days leading up to the first Thanksgiving. It’s always good to be reminded of the layers of complexity behind a simple story. Squanto, especially, was a more mysterious character than legend makes out. Philbrick writes gripping historical narratives, in clear and conversational prose. However, this is an excerpt from a longer work, so you might feel short on details and explanation (especially about some more minor characters).

(See my full review at Bookkaholic.)

For more Thanksgiving reading suggestions, see my blog post on the topic.


[A couple of novels I would recommend on the theme of native-colonial friendship are Caleb’s Crossing by Geraldine Brooks (about the first Native American to attend Harvard) and The Potter’s Hand by A.N. Wilson.]

[Trish · Rating 4 out of 5]

The historian Nathaniel Philbrick won the National Book Award in the year 2000 for his book In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex, and years later he won the 2007 Massachusetts Book Award for Nonfiction for Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War. Penguin has issued a 50-page excerpt from that later book entitled The First Thanksgiving that narrows the larger story to the first year the Pilgrims stole corn stored by the Indians on Cape Cod before landing in Plymouth Bay. They chose a place to live, which happened to be the same location an earlier group had tried to settle only to die of disease leaving human skulls above ground for those after them to find. Philbrick reminds us of the cougars once native to New England, and the long history of attempted settlements and skeptic Indian tribes, some of whom had English speakers who had travelled to Europe.

This is a remarkable short monograph on a discreet period of time that will whet your appetite for more history. In his preface, Philbrick reminds us that the peace that graced the Pilgrims first years deteriorated into some of the bloodiest conflict in U.S. history in the time of those first Pilgrim's children. That fighting would be called King Philip's War.

This book is available only as an ebook and is for sale for a tiny fee in the usual places, e.g., Amazon, B&N. I read a copy I obtained through Netgalley. By the way, Philbrick suggests that venison may have been the main meal on Thanksgiving, though migrating fowl and fish were probably also on the menu.

[Sirah · Rating 4 out of 5]

We all know the story of the first Thanksgiving ... or do we? This short book discusses the Mayflower's landing and the first year of the Pilgrim's new life in America, culminating in the oddly uneventful feast we now commemorate. I like knowing more of what's going on. This book is still a light summary, but I feel much more informed and confident of these facts than I am about most short Thanksgiving books.

[Bookkaholic Magazine · Rating 4 out of 5]

(See our full review over at Bookkaholic.) A short (59-page) and enlightening account of the Pilgrims’ settlement at Plymouth Rock and the uncertain days leading up to the first Thanksgiving. Philbrick writes gripping historical narratives, in clear and conversational prose. It’s always good to be reminded of the layers of complexity behind a simple story. Squanto, especially, was a more mysterious character than legend makes out.

[LGVReader · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very condensed version of Nathaniel Philbrick's book The Mayflower, which is one of the best books I have ever read. I highly recommend reading The Mayflower if one wants the "full" version. It is a short and quick read though which focuses just on the events leading to Thanksgiving. Enjoy.

[Ginger Jolley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked it. It was a small, but informative book about the "first" Thanksgiving.

[Vince Darcangelo · Rating 4 out of 5]

The First Thanksgiving

Nathaniel Philbrick

This short work, a reworking of a chapter from Philbrick’s Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War, is a great introduction to anyone interested in historical nonfiction who may be daunted by Philbrick’s longer works. There aren’t enough superlatives for Philbrick’s writing, and this appetizer will make any reader want to read the Mayflower, or any of his works, in full.

It’s the history of a holiday that we still celebrate, yet holds little connection to its origin. Here, we get the story we never learned in elementary school—such as the high mortality rates of the Pilgrims. Thanksgiving is now a spectacle of consumption and consumerism. Yet of the roughly 150 passengers and crew aboard the Mayflower, only half survived that first winter. Suffice to say, reading about the hardships of the settlers at the time of the first Thanksgiving will shame anyone who dares complain about Black Friday checkout lines.

[Seth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Writing history is hard to do well, but when an author succeeds he makes it look easy. I've read some mediocre, juvenile historical accounts, but Nathaniel Philbrick's fascinating presentation of the first Thanksgiving is high quality. He manages to weave what might otherwise be a droning presentation of "names and dates" into a fine narrative, detailing how often the personality quirks and seemingly inconsequential choices of major and minor players shaped the early history of the Pilgrims and Indians. It definitely made me want to read the rest of the book this selection came from, Mayflower.

[S B · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this book provides some very interesting details about the Pilgrim's first year in the new world, you can feel that this is only part of a larger publication. One gets the feeling of reading a skeletal description that lacks meat, particularly personal, relational information. What is more, the end comes rather abruptly. Even if this is a chapter of a larger book, the ending should have been rewritten to provide more "closure".

I received a complimentary copy of this book from netgalley.com for an honest review.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this quick history of the 9 or 10 months leading up to the harvest festival that has become known as the first Thanksgiving.

I am surprised how little of this story is taught in U.S. schools, and how much myth abounds and is taught.

This excerpt from the larger book "Mayflower" shows the good and bad in both the Pilgrims and the Indians - shows that both were imperfect, but mostly doing their best to do what they believed was right and wise.

[Justina · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading this selection I’d like to read the Mayflower in it’s entirety. I loved reading about what Thanksgiving really looked like. The Pilgrims wouldn’t have sat around a table and ate their meal because they didn’t have enough furniture to bring outside for all the people present and there were no forks in the colonies back then!

[Benoit Guillot · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book (although I read it on Christmas:).

[Donna Peake · Rating 5 out of 5]

My goodness such strong people yearning to be free.

[Miranda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Shorty ebook, guess it counts as a whole book?

[Karla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Separating fact from fiction regarding the first Thanksgiving, this excerpt from the author's book "Mayflower" is a worthwhile read. I gained a deeper appreciation for what the Pilgrims endured.