Customer Reviews

A Great and Godly Adventure: The Pilgrims and the Myth of the First Thanksgiving

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I beg to differ with the author's assertion that there were no turkeys in early Plymouth. Governor William Bradford himself wrote in his history of the colony (Of Plimoth Plantation): "They began now to gather in the small harvest they had, and to fit up their houses and dwellings against winter, being all well recovered in health and strength and had all things in good plenty. For as some were thus employed in affairs abroad, others were exercising in fishing, about cod and bass and other fish, of which they took good store, of which every family had their portion. All the summer there was no want; and now began to come in store of fowl, as winter approached, of which this place did abound when they came first (but afterward decreased by degrees). And besides waterfowl THERE WAS A GREAT STORE OF WILD TURKEYS [my emphasis], of which they took many, besides venison, etc. " There are, in fact, many misconceptions about the "first Thanksgiving" but to say that there were no turkeys in early New England is simply not true. What better source than one who was present at the time?

I found the book to be uneven..sometimes intriguing and other times extraordinarily dull. Having said that, I believe the topic to be important especially to educators, who invariably focus on the romantic rather that the authentic and who perpetuate this national myth. There are now several excellent children's books and even shorter and more readable articles in such reputable magazines as the Smithsonian that provide much the same information. I suspect that those who could truly use the information provided in this book will seek it elsewhere.

Godfrey Hodgson has written a compelling version of America's national origins which challenges many of our treasured elementary school teachings (and, for that matter, our national art). Many of the myths of the first Thanksgiving were invented by early pioneers as mid-1600's marketing literature, to convince others to join them in the hard New England environment and sustain the settlements. Early Pilgrims didn't want to start a new country in America, they wanted to remain English. They settled at Plymouth, but they didn't land at the famous Plymouth rock. To give thanks, their tradition was to fast, not feast.

Hodgson's book tells the tale of the first feast (at which there were no turkeys, cranberries, or pies), the tough first years in the settlement, the complex relationship between the colonists and the Native Americans, and, finally, the evolution of the Thanksgiving holiday over the centuries. The text is at times gripping and at other times plodding. Hodgson certainly has solid research and factual background, but not all chapters will pull the reader in.

English author Hodgson explains the myth of Thanksgiving. The Pilgrims were not actually called Pilgrims, but rather Separatists. They landed in Plymouth Bay by mistake. They were actually going to New York. Their relations with Indians were strained some of the time. The actual feast was more like a fast. When the Separatists did have a meal with the Indians, they did not have turkey and pumpkin piece, but probably corn and venison. As the United States became an older nation, these myths were started to show the nation in the best possible light. The reality was far different.

I commend the author for writing a history of the myth of Thanksgiving. Perhaps no American authors wanted to discredit a national holiday. Hodgson depicts the actural day of Thanksgiving as it was, not what myth made it into. More Americans should know the reality.

I picked this up at the library recently, this being the Thanksgiving season and all, and was at first fascinated by the purported concept. The mission of the author, it would seem, was to do a cultural history of Thanksgiving in America, starting out with the history, then working his way through how we got from the true historical tales of the settlers at Plymouth sitting down for a meal with the Wampanoag to today's mythology and festival of football and excessive caloric intake. And maybe along the way we might find the True Meaning of Thanksgiving.

Unfortunately, while the book starts out with many promising observations about this cultural history, the bulk of it turns out to be a historical recap of the true story (sort of) of the "Pilgrims", followed by a lightning fast-forward to the future. So we get a few dozen years of history in 150 pages with the next 380 crammed into 50 pages.

And, sad to say, I think the author got a number of details wrong (which I won't recap here), largely through over-reliance on some particular sources. Not to say it isn't well-written and fascinating in its way, but it comes of short on both on insights and history. I don't know where the great cultural history of Thanksgiving is, but it's not here.

I will say for the author that he obviously has a great affection for the holiday, and it's always interesting looking at one's own culture through the lens of an outsider. So kudos for the effort.

For a significantly better modern history of the Pilgrims' voyage and the tangled history of relations between the native inhabitants and the English immigrants from 1620 to about 1700, see Philbrick's excellent _Mayflower_, which came out a few years back as well. This is also the story from Massassoit -- the sachem who "saved" the Pilgrims and started a path that lead to co-existence among the decimated native populations and the English migrants for fifty years -- to Massassoit's son, "King Phillip", aka Metacom, who lead the last war on the English that had a chance of sorts at pushing the whites into the sea. How relations got from Thanksgiving to America's only real Total War is a sad and instructive tale, exciting, full of heroes and villains and adventures. That's where you should spend some time, not here.

This book does deliver what it promises - it explains why the First Thanksgiving was a myth, and it is extremely interesting to learn what the early Thanksgivings consisted of. The first part goes into good detail about what a Pilgrim, and other Protestant groups, were and how they came to be. How the passengers got together to make their voyage on the Mayflower, the voyage itself, their arrival and the first few years are total learning experiences, since we didn't learn this stuff in school.

I found the book to be bogged down with a lot of history that was unnecessary. This book seems to be more for the history student than the average reader. It got to be where I got sick of the book and was only picking it up to read to finish it.

As an average reader, I would look for a lighter read to get the real First Thanksgiving story.

i read this book for a class and i was majorly confused by this book..