The World of Plymouth Plantation

by Carla Gardina Pestana

An intimate look inside Plymouth Plantation that goes beyond familiar founding myths to portray real life in the settlement―the hard work, small joys, and deep connections to others beyond the shores of Cape Cod Bay.

The English settlement at Plymouth has usually been seen in isolation. Indeed, the colonists gain our admiration in part because we envision them arriving on a desolate, frozen shore, far from assistance and forced to endure a deadly first winter alone. Yet Plymouth was, from its first year, a place connected to other places. Going beyond the tales we learned from schoolbooks, Carla Gardina Pestana offers an illuminating account of life in Plymouth Plantation.

The colony was embedded in a network of trade and sociability. The Wampanoag, whose abandoned village the new arrivals used for their first settlement, were the first among many people the English encountered and upon whom they came to rely. The colonists interacted with fishermen, merchants, investors, and numerous others who passed through the region. Plymouth was thereby linked to England, Europe, the Caribbean, Virginia, the American interior, and the coastal ports of West Africa. Pestana also draws out many colorful stories―of stolen red stockings, a teenager playing with gunpowder aboard ship, the gift of a chicken hurried through the woods to a sickbed. These moments speak intimately of the early North American experience beyond familiar events like the first Thanksgiving.

On the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower landing and the establishment of the settlement, The World of Plymouth Plantation recovers the sense of real life there and sets the colony properly within global history.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Audiobook

248 pages, Hardcover

Published October 6, 2020

Reviews

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a book I would have read on my own, but received it as a gift, so finally gave it a try months later.

Divided into six sections of three topics each, the author is able to cover a wide variety of aspects of daily life in early Plymouth. Obviously, some entries will be more interesting to each specific reader than others might, but as it's such a short book, I can't say I ever felt the non-fiction material dragged, or got bogged down. Probably would help to be familiar with Southeastern New England geographically, but maps are included at times to help the reader understand relationships among locations mentioned.

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

I heard this on audiobook, so my take on it may be slanted. But the combination of careful prose, unvarying articulated, and eerily consistent tone in the schoolteacher "voice" of the performer- plus the author's dutiful, clear, but rather anodyne prose made for a book that, however much I wanted to learn about the "aftermath" of 1620 itself, left me feeling lectured to, in that "let's sit around teacher and hear her read aloud to us" mode. The facts are worthwhile, but their delivery too samey-sounding

[Robert Nagel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a well organized and well written book about the early history of Plymouth Mass. It gives information about the people, lifestyles, religious beliefs etc. like you would expect to find in a text book. But this is not the case. There are short chapters on various aspects of life there including relations with the Native Americans who co existed peacefully with the settlers. Each chapter focuses on one aspect of life
In the first half of the 17th century and how the major players like Bradford and Winslow interacted with the people and issues they faced. It also dispels some of the myths associated with the first Thanksgiving.

[James Bechtel · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent short history that firmly places Plymouth Plantation in the context of seventeenth-century Atlantic history. One of UCLA Professor CG Pestana's earlier books, "Protestant Empire: Religion and the Making of the British Atlantic World," is a favorite of mine.

[Dennis Hogan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finished The World of Plymouth Plantation by Carla Gardina Pestana, a work of non fiction about the 17th century Pilgrim community which was written in 2020 and published by Harvard Press. There is a museum in Plymouth that depicts the life these first settlers lived. I regret I’ve not been there but this book is a worthy substitute. It’s a short book with great depth. The source material are accounts written in that time by the first settlers. It puts aside a lot of stereotypes and puts you into their everyday lives. In an odd parallel the Pilgrims were some of the first migrants in America, escaping political and religious turmoil and looking for better economic circumstances. A great book!

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was listed as for 8-11 year olds, which I think is/was a mistake. It is at least at the YA level and develops what life was REALLY like at Plimouth Plantation, dispelling many myths that have been part of our national legend. Definitely worth reading. And well written.

[Lori Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good info for those that want the true history warts and all.