Customer Reviews

Empires in the Forest: Jamestown and the Making of America

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
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This book is a special experience. The format combines a sort of historical fiction approach with beautiful photographs portraying the English, the Native Americans, and the timeless beauty of the natural world in coastal Virginia. The text explores the complex relationships of Captain John Smith, chief Powhatan, Opechancanough, Pocahontas, and John Rolfe, and how it resulted in the destruction of the native Americans and the creation of a new nation, America, based on the profit motive.

This is a tale told so many times before. But somehow this is one of the best versions ever-it really is more accesible than a scholarly treatise. A great deal of heartbreak, a great deal of depth and understanding, and a pretty clear differentiation between what we are sure of and what is still unclear. You have to experience this book.

Book came much faster than I expected. When it arrived the book was like new and in better shape than described.

This is an extraordinary book. A sensitive collaboration between photographer and author, it suggests a broad emotional landscape in which to view the founding of Jamestown. Intellectual bearings are difficult, given Chenoweth's fictional handling of the material. But the brilliant photography of Robert Llewellyn grounds the work in what clearly was the book's intent--an artful evocation of the ephemeral nature of American history.

We are fortunate to know one of the indian men prominently featured in this book. That made it very special to us. We are delighted that it is published at this time of the 400th anniversary of Jamestown. It will be a valuable learning tool for generations. We delighted in reading it and then presented it to one of our children and our grandchildren. The excitement of knowing our indian friend added to the enjoymnent of the book and the anticipation of visiting Jamestown.