The Island that Disappeared: Old Providence and the Making of the Western World

by Tom Feiling

The creation myth of the US begins with the puritans of the Mayflower who went on to build the most powerful nation on earth. This is the story of the passengers aboard its sister ship, the Seaflower, who in 1630 founded a rival colony on an isolated Caribbean island called Providence. Their crops failed, slaves revolted, and as crisis loomed the settlers turned to piracy. After the colony was wiped out by the Spanish Providence was forgotten in England, but the drama was re-played by those who settled the island 100 years later, now providing a fascinating microcosm of the Atlantic story.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, American History

400 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 4, 2017

Reviews

[Jashvina Shah · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was ok until he started talking about his travels there. It very much read like a colonizer’s view and it was really disrespectful and like pretty gross in how it described the island as it is now.

[Billie · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting story that was, unfortunately, rather dry in the telling.

[Al Berry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mixes a look at the early settlement of Old Providence, the fight back and forth between England and Spain and takes the tale up to present day with the author traveling around the island. It’s an interesting book that maybe has a scope greater than it should.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is like others that I have read over the last couple of years. It starts with an interesting premise and then changes to something else. The information on the jacket was designed to hook people in. It did not mention that the author would run out of information 2/3 of the way through and the book would become a travelogue. The first part of the book was solid history, and a bit dry. The second half of the book was a decent account of the island in the last century. It was more engaging, but it was not the type of book I was looking for when I purchased it. Still it was better than most similar books with a spit personality.

The information in the front of the book is solid and says a lot about English emigration in the early 1600s and their conflicts with Spain. The second is interesting in that it shows how muddled oral history can be. I recommend it, but believe that most readers will be somewhat disappointed.

[Christopher Febles · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rough. Felt like it took forever. Didn’t flow chronologically well; all over the place. Too much dry detail. Nice idea but then he goes into the minute history of the place. Neat to learn about Henry Morgan tho

[Nancy Vachon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very text-bookish but interesting.

[John Richens]

If, like me, you have a taste for the neglected byways of history, this account of an ultimately abortive attempt by English protestants to establish a colony off the coast of Nicaragua, in the 17th century makes for a great story, starting from the accounts of early settlers to establish mutually helpful relations with their nearest neighbours on the Miskito coast; and moving eventually to the island population of today, many of whom have English surnames, speak English and seek to align themselves more closely with the US than the distant administration in Colombia in whose territory the island of Santa Catalina (formerly Old Providence) now lies. The tensions between the original high-minded puritan settlers and the soldiers who were needed to protect them from the power and hostility of the Spanish are well laid out; inevitably the opportunities for lucrative piracy and easy profit through the introduction of slavery led to the steady erosion of puritan religious prinicples.
I remain unconvinced that the mysterious German doctor who spent the last 30 years of his life on the island could have been implicated (as an abortionist) in the famous Mayerling murder-suicide incident. Far more likely he was a fugitive from justice for other reasons with a tendency to spin romantic yarns; there was another story (not mentioned in the book) that he owned a stradivarius which he was never heard to play.

[Matt Chan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is basically 2/3 history of Providence (not the one you're thinking about) and 1/3 travelogue. I have to say that the travelogue part of the book (parts of Part 3 and towards the end) is much more successful. Feiling has a way with describing his travel that draws a pretty vivid picture, which I appreciate. His attempts to draw connections between what he observed at Providence to the history of the island was also quite successful, I think. The main challenge of the book is that the first 2/3 of the book is a long historic recount of the island, and it reads quite dry, almost like multiple Wikipedia articles strung together without much interpretation and reflection, just regurgitation of sources. Overall, not a bad book. I certainly learned a lot, but it took me way longer to finish than I have anticipated.

[Glen Brooksby · Rating 2 out of 5]

My relatively low rating for this book is mainly due to the subject matter. The book is probably about as well written as it can be, but there's really only so much you can say about a tiny island that history has left behind and is largely forgetting. The beginning of the book was interesting as colonization of the island was being first attempted. However, the island seems to have devolved into a 3rd world backwater and present events are not that interesting. I struggled to finish the book because it just couldn't keep my interest.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 Stars. This is another book that sucked me in with an interesting premise that did not pan out. There was not enough to make an entire book. It should have been a journal article and the author fluffed up the book to get it to book length, which is frustrating. I found the story about Providence Island interesting, but not enough for a 366 page book.

[Cassandra · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was an interesting read that broached a span of colonization I had not heard of prior. An interesting history of the area, but more about the Puritans and their history than what the cover teases you with. Well written, and well researched - though sometimes very dry. I struggled at times to complete it.

[Daniel Farabaugh · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was better the earlier into history it went. The title is a bit mislabeled as it is really a history of the island and the colony of Puritans is only one part of it. Large sections were good although the author got a bit judgemental at the end.

[Annika Dyck · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this a rather interesting history because it talked about a side of the British colonization that is rarely discussed. It almost felt like a behind-the-scenes look, but at the same time, holds its own place in history.

[Alaina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not what I was hoping for. Mostly about the history of the surrounding islands and the feud between spanish and English. Also 1 chapter that was a detailed retelling of a fictional story written during the pilgrimages

[Sanaya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely the better of the two modern books on Providence Island. Engaging, interesting, well written and nicely woven into the politics of the time period.

[Fletcher Courage · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clearly written by an Englishman it's an informative look at a lost period of British history in the Caribbean.

[David Lister · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well researched and written, but the story of the island is mediocre. Decent history of Caribbean

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

An intriguing compendium about a topic I knew very little about. Dives into the really traumatic and thorny issues with imperialism.

[Joshua Fang · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title is misleading, it does not talk much on puritans, more a history log and a travel log. Boring. But the story is interesting.

[tysephine · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was fine , but dear sweet baby Jesus it dragged.

[Terri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting, if unevenly written, book about the sister colony of the Plymouth, Massachusetts / Mayflower Pilgrims. Much of the history of this Caribbean Colony was new to me, and I learned a great deal. Pilgrims and Pirates - who knew? The writing is very uneven - a few chapters near the end seem to be unedited, almost as if they were raw journal notes. The author's passion for the subject matter comes through. I felt that he treated his living subjects with fairness and dignity, honest enough to see both merits and flaws. Fascinating read!

[Lori]

Dnf