Mr. Woolley's account of the founding of the Jamestown Colony, the first British venture onto what would become American soil, is lively, populated with the decrees of a jealous king, the pursuits of ambitious men/A> willing to do anything to make their mark, and the high-handed attempts of intolerant Europeans to impose their values and their sense of order upon the natives already inhabiting the land so coveted by the white men from the east. Bouncing back and forth between London and the new world, Mr. Woolley chronicles the deprivations of 17th century, cross-Atlantic voyages, the men who braved them, and those poor souls who tried to build some measure of European settlement on a North America untamed by "civilized" hands.
From the European's point of view, this truly was a savage land, riddled with a bewildering array of tribes woven into a confounding network of alliances and feuds. And because it's always easier for man to fall back on prejudice when faced with what is incomprehensible to him, we watch as European values are imposed on the natives, the misunderstandings that erupt as a result, and the dark outcomes that inevitably conclude a clash of civilizations which know nothing of one another.
A fun read that educates without drying us out with burdensome detail. I was particularly captivated by the economics behind the colony's launch, as well as the wooing of Pocahontas by John Smith. It's amazing to what lengths humans will go to claim what they covet and to protect what they claim. (3/5 Stars)
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