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A Great and Godly Adventure: The Pilgrims and the Myth of the First Thanksgiving
A Great and Godly Adventure The Pilgrims and the Myth of the First Thanksgiving
Author: Godfrey Hodgson
The first Thanksgiving wasn't celebrated with turkey (there weren't any in Massachusetts) and didn't take place in 1621. Indeed the settlers, who probably didn't think of themselves as Pilgrims and were most certainly not revolutionaries against their king, were lucky not to be wiped out during their first winter. They probably w...  more »
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ISBN-13: 9781586483739
ISBN-10: 1586483730
Publication Date: 10/2/2006
Pages: 212
Rating:
  • Currently 2.6/5 Stars.
 4

2.6 stars, based on 4 ratings
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Book Type: Hardcover
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hardtack avatar reviewed A Great and Godly Adventure: The Pilgrims and the Myth of the First Thanksgiving on + 2720 more book reviews
An interesting book about the Pilgrims who really called themselves Separatists; and who didn't come to the New World to enjoy religious freedom, but to ensure no other religion but theirs could be observed. They also landed in the wrong place.

(Minor Point) --- In the Prologue, the author appears to confuse the North American turkey species with the species (same genus) from Central America which was introduced into Europe by the Spanish from their Central American possessions. A subspecies of the North American species was present in New England during colonial times, but not anymore, apparently due to loss of habitat.

It is interesting how he relates the bird became called the "turkey." However, there is a second possibility mentioned on the wild turkey Wikipedia page

It is also interesting how he relates many of the original colonists died, often due to starvation, because the Pilgrims initially believed in common ownership of farm land, what one might call communism. Crop productivity didn't increase until the colony switched to private ownership of farm land.
reviewed A Great and Godly Adventure: The Pilgrims and the Myth of the First Thanksgiving on + 3 more book reviews
This book would be good for the history buff that likes to go beyond the fairy tales and folk stories. It has lots of good info about that time period.


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