Pocahontas and the English Boys: Caught Between Cultures in Early Virginia

by Karen Ordahl Kupperman

The captivating story of four young people--English and Powhatan--who lived their lives between cultures In Pocahontas and the English Boys, the esteemed historian Karen Ordahl Kupperman shifts the lens on the well-known narrative of Virginia's founding to reveal the previously untold and utterly compelling story of the youths who, often unwillingly, entered into cross-cultural relationships--and became essential for the colony's survival. Their story gives us unprecedented access to both sides of early Virginia. Here for the first time outside scholarly texts is an accurate portrayal of Pocahontas, who, from the age of ten, acted as emissary for her father, who ruled over the local tribes, alongside the never-before-told intertwined stories of Thomas Savage, Henry Spelman, and Robert Poole, young English boys who were forced to live with powerful Indian leaders to act as intermediaries. Pocahontas and the English Boys is a riveting seventeenth-century story of intrigue and danger, knowledge and power, and four youths who lived out their lives between cultures. As Pocahontas, Thomas, Henry, and Robert collaborated and conspired in carrying messages and trying to smooth out difficulties, they never knew when they might be caught in the firing line of developing hostilities. While their knowledge and role in controlling communication gave them status and a degree of power, their relationships with both sides meant that no one trusted them completely. Written by an expert in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Atlantic history, Pocahontas and the English Boys unearths gems from the archives--Henry Spelman's memoir, travel accounts, letters, and official reports and records of meetings of the governor and council in Virginia--and draws on recent archaeology to share the stories of the young people who were key influencers of their day and who are now set to transform our understanding of early Virginia.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Native American, American History, Biography, Indigenous

240 pages, Hardcover

First published March 12, 2019

About the author

Karen Ordahl Kupperman is an American historian who specializes in colonial history in the Atlantic world of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
She was born in North Dakota, but moved often during her childhood. She studied History at the University of Missouri, after which she obtained a prestigious Woodrow Wilson fellowship and attended Harvard University, graduating with a MA in 1962. She later attended the University of Cambridge to earn her PhD.

Reviews

[Rama Rao · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pocahontas and the life in early Virginia

When President Donald Trump called Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren as Pocahontas, the native American leaders expressed concern as it was offensive and hurtful to their population. Pocahontas was the daughter of Powhatan, the chief of a kingdom that consisted of 28 tribes of Tidewater region of Virginia. She first became acquainted with the colonists who settled in the Chesapeake Bay area in 1607 and fostered accord between her people and English colonists. In 1995, Disney released an animated film, a collection of fictional tales as love story between Pocahontas and colonist John Smith; this is a romanticized version and a clear departure from the actual events.

In this book, NYU Professor Karen Kupperman focuses on the early history of Virginia illuminating on young Pocahontas' life that was spawned by colonial settlers. The author’s style of writing combined with various Native American names of early Virginia is somewhat challenging to a casual reader, but it is rewarding to know that this piece of American history is retold with passion for the fascinating life of Pocahontas and three English kids; Thomas Savage, Robert Poole, and Henry Spelman. In the early days of colonization, they live in both tribal and colonial communities, learning native American languages, translating trade negotiations, learning farming from native communities and teaching them to English colonists. Learning communication skills, acting as emissaries and surviving the harsh winters: They were essential in the process of colonization of Virginia.

The English in charge in Jamestown, Virginia believed that Pocahontas was not the same person when she grew up. They were also suspicious of three English kids being radically changed by the native population. They were bartered for food by the colonists, and the natives accepted them since they were still young, and malleable like unbaked dough. As for as the kids and Pocahontas, they experienced initial terror since they had to cross between two different cultures, but they also saw natives as a well-adapted community to the environment. The colonists raged and starved because they could not cope with challenges of the new world. The English kids saw competence and a culture in which status was earned rather than acquired. They saw the reality behind the curtain of English claim of superiority. As the colonists began to thrive after they learnt the farming techniques. The speed of economic growth based on the realities of capitalism that was also essential to economics of Virginia. The kids understand the operating style and expanding nature of the new immigrants.

This book looks at the early American history and the sacrifice the kids make in the new world. Pocahontas travels to England and becomes acquainted with their culture. The English also converts her to Christianity and use her as missionary to spread the New Testament among natives in Virginia. The life of Pocahontas is fascinating to read; we get a relatively unbiassed view of the events in the early American history.

[Laurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most Americans have some vague recollection from school that Pocahontas was taken from her people to England. In fact, even as a 10 year old girl, she learned English quickly (as kids do) and served as translator and go between for her father. At least three English boys were given to the various tribes to absorb their languages and facilitate communications. For the most part, these exchange children were well treated, but there were many incidents where one side or the other told lies to the children, which they then carried to their hosts. It got so neither side trusted the children. As they became adults, their situations became even more suspect. Pocahontas of course married an Englishman and went to England, where she died, but the English boys had varied fates. In the conclusion, the author compares the children to Stockholm Syndrome sufferers, whereby they are put in a terrifying situation but then are treated with kindness by their captors.

While the book wasn’t difficult reading, the author goes into great detail about the actions of the colonists and the Native Americans, and I would sometimes become confused as to which group or person she was talking about. It’s a great book, though, for showing the kind of misleading things the English did to take advantage of the Native Americans, as well as the situations the colonists found themselves in, in an area with different plants and animals from what they were used to. Four stars.

[Mike Shoop · Rating 3 out of 5]

Informative account of the several English boys who were given to the Powhatans during the early years of the Virginia Colony to learn the Native culture and language and serve as interpreters between the settlers and the indigenous people. Thomas Savage, Henry Spelman, Robert Poole, and Samuel Collier served primarily with the chiefs Powhatan and Opechancanough, and were at times companions of Pocahontas, whose own story is interwoven with that of the boys. Kupperman has done thorough research, and sets these individuals firmly within the context of the times, including such events as the Starving Time, the wreck of the Sea Venture, the capture of Pocahontas, Pocahontas' trip to England, the uprising of 1622, etc. Her narrative covers the often uneasy relations between the Natives and the colonists, how the boys were often caught in between, jealousies between the boys, problems as they matured into young men, how their positions of power changed to that of not being trusted completely by anyone, and she reveals the fate of each of these young Englishmen, who gave their lives in colonial service.
An interesting look at cross-cultural relationships that existed in colonial Virginia from the very beginning.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely stories Of the young people who were used to “go between” cultures. Compares the 16th century Indian and English cultures well and puts them in context. Helps us see how contingent power and action in Virginia were. Very readable.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of all the Jamestown books I've read this summer, Pocahontas and the English Boys is the most recent, having been published in 2019. It also provided quite a bit of new information, as it delved into the lives of Pocahontas, Thomas Savage, Henry Spelman, and Robert Poole (with the occasional cameo from Samuel Collier and Thomas Rolfe). The "English boys" had the distinction of having been essentially handed over to the Powhatans and other local tribes when they were still young enough to learn their languages and customs, and to act as translators between the Indians and English thereafter. Pocahontas, who was around the same age as the three main boys, is the most famous of the group for the role she played as an emissary and peacemaker in Jamestown, but each of them was invaluable for the services they provided.

Like many academics, Kupperman's writing, while clear and accessible, can be quite disorganized, particularly in the last chapter, which tries to tie the boys' experiences to larger phenomena from recent history (i.e. POWs and Stockholm Syndrome). And like so many other researchers who have tried to shed a light on some of the many overlooked figures from this period, Kupperman is ultimately constrained by the scarcity of resources available. On the flip side, she is able to gleam more from sources that other writers have tended to overlook, such as Henry Spelman's reports from his time living among the Powhatan (most books about Jamestown prefer to pull from Ralph Hamor or William Strachey). Pocahontas and the English Boys is also clearly written by a woman, since it contrasts the lives of English and Indian women by focusing on the latter's political and legal rights rather than their robust sexuality (although it should be mentioned that even with greater freedoms, the overwhelming majority of named characters in this book, English or Indian, are male; Pocahontas was the exception, not the rule).

Despite the boys' importance, growing up between two worlds had plenty of drawbacks. They were handed off to strangers when they were still children, they faced the possibility of being abandoned by the adults whom they had trusted to protect them should something suddenly go wrong, and they were often pitted against each other, competing for relevance and patronage. More than anything else, they came to be distrusted by both sides, who each feared that the boys were being manipulated by the other, or were even suspected of pitting the English and Indians against each other in order to advance their own agendas. Sadly, both scenarios proved to be true: colony and tribal leaders used the boys to plant false messages without the boys' knowledge, and Spelman and Poole were both accused, with varying degrees of certitude, of twisting messages for their own gain. Their lives were marked by abandonment, ostracization, and betrayal.

Less convincing is Kupperman's argument that the boys and Pocahontas all suffered from Stockholm Syndrome. Stockholm Syndrome is a well-known but controversial phenomenon used to explain why captives sometimes come to empathize with their captors. Kupperman describes it as "initial terror followed by kind treatment," which forges a bond between them. The boys hadn't been kidnapped, however. They were given a job to do, and the Indians they were staying with were fully aware that the boys would eventually return to their settlement to act as interpreters. This could certainly be seen as an act of child exploitation, but it wasn't a hostage scenario. And in Pocahontas' case, the people who showed her kindness (Rev. Whitaker, John Rolfe) were not the same people who inflicted terror on her (Captain Argall, Thomas Dale). The only thing they all had in common was that they were all English colonists living in Virginia.

Given all the reading I’ve been doing on this topic lately, there were a few other oddities that stuck out to me. No mention is made of John Ratcliffe's torturous death, the details of which were relayed by Spelman and would have undoubtedly had a traumatic effect on him. The boys are often hard to distinguish from one another. When recounting their lives, no mention is made of the theories that either Spelman or Poole married Indian women. Nor is there any mention of the rampant slavery practiced throughout the Americas before the Europeans even made contact (a personal pet peeve of mine). John Smith's memoirs are presented as fact, a curious decision for any work of history. I'm not entirely sure that Kupperman's claim that John Rolfe's tobacco harvest only succeeded because of Pocahontas' intervention holds up; as far as I can recall, the timeline of events would suggest otherwise.* There are also some moments of extreme conjecture. Take this passage about Pocahontas' reaction to the Virginia Company offering her money to convert more Powhatan children to Christianity, for example:

Pocahontas remembered Paquiquineo’s story of having been trained by Spanish priests and returned to Virginia to convert his people. Paquiquineo solved his problem by destroying the mission that brought him back in the 1570s, but Pocahontas, as the mother of young Thomas, was tied to the English in ways that were quite different. Her inner turmoil over what would happen once they were back in Virginia must have been intolerable. What we call stress-related illness seventeenth-century people called a broken heart, and some said Pocahontas died of a broken heart. Whatever physical illness she had was made far worse by the stress she felt.

Where in the world did Kupperman get any of this? There's no source given, so clearly none of Pocahontas' contemporaries ever mentioned her wanting to wipe out the English or being distraught over the idea of other Powhatans converting to Christianity (that's not usually how converts think; if anything, they tend to be more zealous in their faith than the people who are raised in it). There isn't even a source for anyone saying she "died of a broken heart." Kupperman later claims this was the "last straw" for Pocahontas, before bemoaning that "because of her death, her son grew up a thorough Englishman." Except we know he wasn't a "thorough Englishman" because he moved back to Virginia as soon as he reached adulthood, and we know he tried to reconnect with his mother's remaining family once he did. This is all just conjecture made to mold what really happened into something that fits the author’s thesis.

Complaints aside, I still found this book valuable for its insight into the contrasting cultures of early Virginia and for shining a light on a small group of people who deserve recognition for the role they played in bridging the gap between those cultures. I was also struck by the contrast Kupperman made between British kings and Indian chiefs, noting how the former relied on grand displays of wealth and largesse to convey their regality, whereas the latter eschewed such pageantry and conveyed their importance through a stoic and dignified manner. I couldn't help but think of Washington, rival to King George III, who insisted on being called "Mr. President" instead of "Your Majesty," but whose demeanor commanded respect wherever he went.

*One pattern I've noticed throughout my literary journey is how many writers look for some way to denigrate Rolfe or find something that proves he was unworthy of Pocahontas, however petty it may be. I'd chalk this up to a mixture of factors, including a determination among non-Indigenous people to only see American Indians as victims (Indians suffered at the hands of white settlers, so therefore every relationship between the two must have been sinister in nature), a weird form of progressive racism (an Indian woman couldn't possibly fall for a man of a different race), and an idolization of Pocahontas herself. I don't think I've come across a single critical comment about her thus far. That we lack any firsthand accounts from Pocahontas is a true shame, for both history’s sake and her own, but it has also allowed her to be turned into an irreproachable cultural figure.

[SundayAtDusk · Rating 3 out of 5]

For those who think the title of this book is suggesting something titillating happening back in Jamestown, that wasn't taught in 4th-grade history, forget it. The English boys were just that--boys the British left with the Powhatan tribe so they could learn the language and the culture, and help the early colonists deal with the "savages".

Only the "savages" weren't the only ones guilty of savagery at times. The British often did despicable things, and considered themselves superior to the various tribes. They also obviously had little concern about their own children once they reached a certain age. That's why I hate reading about British history before WWI. I so often can't stand the British in earlier times.

That's not why I gave the book only three stars, though. I did so because I think Ms. Kupperman's work was too fragmented and often confusing. I certainly wasn't looking for "creative nonfiction", but did expect a story that flowed more smoothly. Particularly after Pocahontas' death, it’s quite confusing what is going on in the lives of the “British boys”--Thomas Savage, Henry Spelman, and Robert Poole--who were then young men.

Nevertheless, I learned a lot of interesting information about the Powhatan people, including what they believed happened after death. They obviously believed in a type of reincarnation, where the soul returned to Earth to live again. That definitely wasn’t taught back in 4th-grade history.

(Note: I received a free ARC of this book from Amazon Vine.)

[Jamie Bee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pocahontas and the English Boys gives a unique perspective on the earliest days of the English settlements in North America. As the title suggests, the lens is on a group of young people, and these children acted as go-betweens between the adults of both of their cultures. Pocahontas, as the beloved daughter of Chief Powhatan, was often sent to the English settlements as an emissary and message bearer. The English boys referred to in the title are less well-known to history. These young boys were specifically given to the Native Americans. Usually, these children were seen almost as adopted children of the tribal leaders and were treated with kindness and honor. In fact, there is some description of how these children would join the tribe, learning the language and culture and even dressing as Native Americans. They were treated well by the Native Americans, probably better than they would have fared in the English settlement, where they would have been seen more like servants.

Despite the title of the book, very little emphasis is actually given to Pocahontas and the English boys. Much of the book sets up the historical and cultural contexts of both the peoples (English and Native American) and the places. There is some discussion of the social milieu of England itself, the structure of Native American culture around the Jamestown area and the Algonquin tribes, and descriptions of early life in a variety of settlements, including some predating Pocahontas. Interactions between the native tribes and the Europeans are described in detail, with quotes from the sources themselves.

I found this to be a very fascinating look at the very earliest days of European settlement on the Eastern seaboard.

I received a free copy of this book, but that did not affect my review.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, it's a pretty readable and quick synopsis of the early years of Jamestown. What it's not is a history and analysis of of the lives adolescents who were used by both the Natives and English as go-betweens. There is some scant information on the topic, but it's scattered throughout the body of the text, which is really a general history of the time. There is no attempt at a systematic and thorough exploration of the topic. I was quite disappointed in that, as I've always been drawn by the spaces in between cultures. However, I did learn a lot about Jamestown and the Native culture that I didn't know.

[Rob · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pocahontas had tattoos! One would not learn that from the Disney movie.

[Tova · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yes, I read this in one day, well I kind of panic and skim read for school, but I still read it and it was interesting.

[Nancy Kennedy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love when authors can bring a little-known event or, in this case, practice, to life. In the early days of the country, colonists routinely "traded" young people with Native Americans, sending them to live in the other's community. The purpose was to have someone learn the language and culture of the opposing society, so they could act as translators and go-betweens in commercial and social interactions. Young boys in their teens, in particular, were offered in trade, as that age was considered neither child nor adult, and the right age to learn a language and adapt to new customs.

Ms. Kupperman's book focuses on three English boys who were sent to live among Native Americans in and around Jamestown, Virginia: Thomas Savage, Henry Spelman and Robert Poole. Apparently none of them had a say in their fate, as adults made the decision to both send them to America and to hand them over to Native Americans. The fourth child the author examines is the well-known young girl, Pocahontas, who first interacted with the settlers while still with her family, and then eventually was taken to live among them, going on to marry an Englishman.

Beyond the four main protagonists of the book, Ms. Kupperman broadens her scope to discuss the wider practice of trading people -- children, prisoners, indentured servants, slaves -- between the differing factions that were settling North America, including the Spanish. In New England, the Mayflower Pilgrims relied on Squanto, a Native American from the Patuxet tribe who came to live with them in 1621. But these children with what the author calls "fluid identities" came to be mistrusted, as their loyalties could not be pinned down and the information they gave was, therefore, suspect. In the case of Pocahontas, though, her presence among the settlers in Jamestown was life-saving, as she brought her knowledge of agriculture with her, allowing them to both feed themselves and grow a crop (tobacco) that had a high market value.

This was an interesting and immersive look into a practice that I knew nothing about. Its examination adds depth to the story of the early colonizing of America. I had the false impression that interactions between settlers and Native Americans were always negative and violent. While that certainly became increasingly the case, in the early years, it's interesting to see how everyone was trying to work things out, though the driving factor was usually the desperation of impending starvation (the colonists) and the need for hunting, fishing and agricultural grounds (the Native Americans). While the unfamiliar names pile up and become daunting after a while, a reader can just keep the author's main focus in mind and understand the thread of the story. It would make a great companion read along with another new book, "Marooned: Jamestown, Shipwreck, and a New History of America's Origin" by Joseph Kelly.

[Jeff Stookey · Rating 5 out of 5]

On this day, October 25, 2024, when President Biden apologizes to Native Americans for abusive government-funded boarding schools, it seems appropriate to review this book. The author, a prize-winning historian, describes the beginning of the North American “Nakba,” by the English, the massacre of Indigenous peoples in order to steal their land.

Kupperman focuses on three English boys who were left by the colonists to live with the Indigenous tribes to learn their language and culture. Later used as translators, the boys were caught between cultures, and often in dangerous straits because both the colonists and the Indigenous leaders were unsure if they could trust these interlocutors. The boy translators were used by both sides, at times, to communicate false information, which even the boys themselves may or may not have known to be deceptive. Pocahontas, too, served as an interlocutor between the tribes and the colonists and she also suffered misunderstandings. The book recounts her long sad story of involvement with the English, both in Virginia and in the British homeland.

Colonist Peter Arundel wrote: “We ourselves have taught them [the Indigenous] how to be treacherous by our false dealings with the poor king Patawomeck that had always been faithful to the English…”

In August of 1610, the colonists attacked the Paspahegh town west of Jamestown, burned it down, and killed the captured “queen” of the village and her two male children. “The colony’s commanders wanted the Native leaders along the James [River] to know that the slightest provocation would be met with maximum force. The slaughter of the Paspahegh boys was particularly shocking because Native reprisals spared children….The English disregard for children, and their bloodthirsty extermination of the Paspahegh princes exhibited true savagery as the Chesapeake Algonquians saw it.”

After a 1622 attack by the Powhatans that killed hundreds of colonists, intending to “wipe the English off the face of their land,” a number of poems and reports appeared in England describing the massacre. “All these publications blamed the victims. They portrayed the Natives as savages and the colonists as ineffectual in controlling them.”

“They [the English boys] also saw a way of life well adapted to the environment. As the colonists raged and starved because they could not cope, the boys saw competence and a culture in which status was earned rather than acquired. They saw the reality behind the curtain of English claims of superiority, as the colonists began to thrive only after they adopted Native crops and techniques.”

Pocahontas taught the Virginia colonists how to plant, care for, harvest, and cure tobacco, which was becoming popular in Europe, and became the colony’s main cash crop. So we have Pocahontas to thank for the millions of modern Americans who have died from lung cancer caused by smoking tobacco. Is this the Indigenous revenge?

[Kato Justus · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
BOOK REVIEW:
“Pocahontas and the English Boys” by Karen Ordahl Kupperman's is a fascinating read. The story is about several young English boys who were traded with the Native American Indians (Powhatans and other tribes) in exchange for corn and other staples to help the floundering Virginia colony survive. The plan was to trade these youngsters so they would learn the language(s) and culture(s) and then be able to act as translators in the relationships. Apparently it was very common to trade or ship out your kid when they reached the “nonage” years of the early teens. I was surprised to learn this trading out of young boys and girls was a very common custom even amongst the rich. They believed a parent, especially the mother, couldn’t properly raise their child into adulthood because their affection would interfere. Most were traded out between the ages of 10-15 years of age.

The author pulls from many source documents to tell these stories and weaves it all into a thread because the English boys and Pocahontas were about the same age and knew each other too. Their lives and survival was very tenuous as they were sometimes used to send friendly messages as a ruse and set up a trap for one side to attack the other (through no fault or pre-knowledge of their own). Additionally, they developed affections for their keepers so their loyalties were conflicted. On the whole, I think it was better to be sold or traded to the Indians because you were going to eat and they just treated their captives better. The Indians “adopted” these boys as a “sons.” But the reason why they were there was inherently dangerous and created one precarious situation after another because they were always being used as a pawn in the Chess games of others.

For more on “Pocahontas and the English Boys” engrossing adventures read the book. Karen Ordahl Kupperman’s meticulous research is well documented on every page while still narrating and weaving an amazing story. Highly recommend. @KatoJustus4

[Moniek Bloks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pocahontas was born circa 1596 as the daughter of Powhatan, the paramount chief of a network of tribes in the Tidewater region of Virginia. She was credited with saving the life of a Colonist John Smith. She was captured in 1613 and converted to Christianity during her captivity. She took the name Rebecca, and she eventually decided to remain with the Colonists. She married John Rolfe the following year and gave birth to their only child - Thomas Rolfe - in January 1615.

In 1616, Pocahontas and her family travelled to London to be presented to society as a "civilised savage." She arrived as a celebrity, but tragically, she died in Gravesend on the return journey. Long after her death, her story was romanticised in art and film.

Pocahontas and the English Boys: Caught between Cultures in Early Virginia by Karen Ordahl Kupperman tells the story of Pocahontas and three English boys. The English boys lived with the Natives from a young age, spoke their language and travelled between cultures as Pocahontas did. I must admit I was quite uneducated about Pocahontas' times and circumstances, and I was glad to learn more about it. Even though the three English boys are not quite a fit subject for a site like mine, I found their stories quite interesting and well-told.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! It was a true learning experience for me. The title is humorous and catchy, while there are parts about Pocahontas, most of the book seemed to focus on the boys.

Kupperman focuses on early colonial settlements, highlighting some cultural aspects of both the English and the Native Americans while explaining how they came to understand each other and communicate. They both sent representatives to live with the other, while using trade as a means for both sides to better themselves. Kupperman explains what is like for the boys sent to live with the Native Americans. She also highlights Pocahontas. While there are other Native Americans that live with the colonists, their version of events do not exist.

What really interested me was the identity fluidity that existed at the time. Very interesting book and topic!

[Cat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eye opening book. I recall the many stories I heard of Pocahontas growing up and what I later learned as an adult. The boys were a complete mystery to me, though in retrospect, not very surprising. Humans can be pretty horrible kids. This was a whole new take on the Jamestown fiasco to me. I enjoyed the book very much and imagine it took quite a bit of researching to find so much info. Kudos Karen Kupperman. great read arm chair historians, or anyone interested in the colonization of the New World.
I received a Kindle arc from Netgalley in exchange for a fair review.

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pocahontas and the English Boys follows the story of four people who shifted between the indigenous populations of North America and Great Britain. This book gets into the nitty gritty details of cultural immersion and how the distrust came between people in the colonies and those who lived with the native Americans. For any one interested in early Virginia and native American history this is a must read and provides a fresh perspective that is often little covered in other studies.

[Fab · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this history book about a period which I am rather unfamiliar with. It gives an informed introduction to Native America-English relations through the lives of a small group of individuals in the Early Modern period, written in a very accessible manner while still showing that it is well-researched and founded on solid scholarship. A really good piece of popular history writing!

[Foggygirl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read, most people are aware of the name of Pocahontas, Thank you Trump. But her story and the stories of the other young people caught up in the politics of the region at that time was much more complicated and tragic. Ironically Pocahontas was a nickname, her real name was apparently Matoaka.

[Alicia Primer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very readable and interesting history of a story we think we know, but don’t, about the earliest English colonies in the Americas. Spoiler: the English were the savages, dishonest and quite cruel.

[John Hively · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book, well written and researched.

[Megan Devlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting overview of the cultural shape-shifting by individuals on both sides of the meeting of cultures when the British first settled North America.

[Petra Shea · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this for a class and actually found it interesting. I learned a lot and wasn't bored out of my mind.

[Susan R Schooley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book. Really demonstrates the instability of those times.