1607: A New Look at Jamestown [Hardcover]

Karen Lange (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up

1607: A New Look at Jamestown is the last word on America's first colony. With expert appraisal of new archaeological evidence, this National Geographic title stands alone for timely authority and visual appeal.

Karen Lange's gripping narrative incorporates analysis of the latest discoveries from the Jamestown site. The text has been researched with the help of National Geographic grantee Dr. William Kelso. The pages come alive with Ira Block's stunning photography, detailing newly discovered artifacts, and highlighting authentic Jamestown reenactments. Compelling new theories, a National Geographic period map, and stunning reenactment photography take us back to Jamestown in 1607, where the course of our country's history changed forever.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Starred Review. Grade 3–6—In 1994, scientists unearthed important new evidence about the original Jamestown fort. The work is ongoing and has changed many established ideas about the early settlers. 1607 incorporates these findings and offers a fascinating look at archaeology in action. Color photographs of costumed interpreters and re-created buildings from the Jamestown Settlement living-history museum depict both English and Native American ways of life. Varying perspectives of the period are represented, including evidence that suggests that Native women married English settlers and lived at the fort; how the arrival of English women changed the dynamics of the settlement; and the importance of indentured servants versus the relatively small presence of African slaves. Attractive, engaging, and informative, this title should be in every collection.—Lucinda Snyder Whitehurst, St. Christopher's School, Richmond, VA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Just in time for the 400th anniversary of the Jamestown settlement, this well-illustrated volume presents information based on recent archaeology at the site of the original fort. Lange clearly describes conditions in early Jamestown and tells how the recent excavations and other research have shifted historians' perceptions of the colony. She also discusses the Indians who lived in the area before the English settlement began and shows how their views of the settlers changed over the years. The excellent color photos feature interpreters dressed as colonists and Indians in reconstructions of their communities as well as artifacts found at the site of the fort. In conclusion, Lange tackles some controversy, noting "the story of Jamestown is not a comforting one: Indians see nothing to celebrate in the 400th year commemoration." Jamestown has long been overshadowed by Plymouth in America's mythology, but this forthright narrative is a very good place to start learning its significant story. A chronology, source notes, and lists of books and Web sites are appended. Carolyn Phelan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 48 pages
• Publisher: National Geographic Children's Books (February 13, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1426300123
• ISBN-13: 978-1426300127
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 0.4 x 11.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #598,963 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Review - 1607: A New Look at Jamestown, June 26, 2007

By 

P. Stohr-Hunt "MissRumphius" (Richmond, VA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 1607: A New Look at Jamestown (Hardcover)

When I was growing up in western New York, studying colonial America was about the Pilgrims and Plymouth Rock. It was not about Jamestown, even though the landing at Jamestown occurred 13 years earlier. I learned a lot about Jamestown upon moving to Virginia, and with the 400th anniversary this year, I've learned even more.

In recent years, finding text resources about Jamestown that present a true picture of colonization, warts and all, has been hard to find. This situation has changed with the publication of Karen Lange's book, 1607: A New Look at Jamestown. Lange, a journalist and writer with National Geographic Magazine, presents a brief history of the settling of Jamestown using new archaeological evidence to tell the story.

The Foreword begins in this fashion:
Many people feel that to discover the past, all you have to do is find a book, open the pages, and read a single story. That couldn't be farther from the truth. History is not static: It is not a single story. Simple discovery may only yield you one layer. To really begin to understand the multi-faceted stories that make up our past, you must dig beyond what we think we know. You must discover and then re-discover.

This volume takes these words to heart as it reveals the recent discoveries at the Jamestown archaeological site. Supported by an extensive bibliography of primary sources, Lange presents the grim reality that was the founding of this American colony. The narrative describes the settlers' struggles through the artifacts left behind. Color photographs of the dig site, found treasures, and historical reenactment scenes give readers a glimpse of what life was like for those who lived inside the Jamestown fort.

Lange does an especially good job of describing how native peoples were living when the settlers arrived, and how their arrival forever changed their way of life. Lange even highlights the response of the Paspahegh (Powhatan) descendants to the planned celebrations to mark the 400th anniversary of Jamestown, noting:
"For the Indians, Jamestown is nothing to celebrate. To them, it meant the end of their ancestors' way of life."

I was completely enthralled by this book and found myself engaged by the remarkable, yet difficult history presented. Believe me, this is not the standard fare served up in history textbooks. Don't miss this amazing book on a bit of American history you only think you know. I highly recommend it.

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars an excellent resource, March 20, 2007

By 

Tom M. "history nut" (Avon, CT USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 1607: A New Look at Jamestown (Hardcover)

In a little under 50 pages, Ms Lange has captured the essence of what life was like in the New World in first decades of the 17th c. She provides an even-handed treatment of Native Americans, the strengths and follies of the English and the terrible ordeals that beset both groups. Her coverage of the most recent findings of archeologists show the misconceptions and biases that have crept into the history books over the ensuing centuries--until now. My 16 year old son used 1607: A New Look at Jamestown as one of his sources for a report in AP US history class, and it was a real eye-opener to him and to me. With wonderful photographs of found relics and recreated scenes, this book brings to life a period and a people who have always taken a back seat to the Pilgrim story. I would highly recommend this book to any parent of a child, pre-teen or teen that shows a curiosity for history. Rather than dumbing-down, Ms Lange dazzles.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting for science-minded history lovers, October 24, 2011

By 

M. Heiss (USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 1607: A New Look at Jamestown (Hardcover)

The descriptions of archaeological research in this book will fascinate readers who are looking for scientific information.

The book is filled with photographs of the Jamestown sites, as well as photographs of historical re-enactors in period costumes.

Parents take note: my son was rolling right through this book and enjoying it immensely when he got to this information, on page 23: "One such interpreter was 13-year-old Henry Spelman. Spelman wrote that he left England 'being in displeasure of my friends, and desirous to see other countries,' He went to Jamestown as a laborer but was traded to one of Chief Powhatan's sons for a piece of land. He arrived among the Indians when the friendship between the English and Powhatan was breaking down. After he watched the Indians skin a captured English officer alive with a razor-sharp clam shell, Spelman ran away."

All I heard my son say was, "Whoa." I don't think he was expecting that. There was nothing in the earlier part of the book to indicate there would be a description of an execution 1/3 of the way through the book.

I read the whole book for myself after he pointed that out to me. You know, it's not a BAD book, but I don't like the tone of how corrupt America is, and it can all be traced back to Jamestown. I also raised my eyebrows at the author's point that the BEST thing about Jamestown colony was that the gentlemen were laboring just like everybody else. Really? That's the BEST thing? On the one hand, it's such a "no kidding" statement, and on the other, it certainly downplays the rest of the good that came from the colony.

Anyway, good chronology, good index, good notes on sources.

It's not a rah-rah cheerleading book for young people, if that's what you're after... but it's a good book for a person interested in the discoveries and science at Jamestown.

Personally, I prefer "Written in Bone: Buried Lives of Jamestown and Colonial Maryland" by Sally M. Walker. Much more information, more science, and more that interests us. For less science, but more all-around appeal, try "James Towne: Struggle for Survival" by Marcia Sewall.