Customer Reviews

Mayflower: The Voyage That Changed the World

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The story of the Mayflower and the voyage of the pilgrams to the new world has been told many times, but usually only in the shortest of ways. In this book Mr. Hilton has carefully researched the pilgrims, their travels and activities once they reached America. He tells the tale with knowledge, respect and a writing style that really leaves you wondering if they will survive the next problem.

Beyond the basic history, he provides some very interesting commentary on the long term effects of the document they all signed, the Mayflower Compact. He traces the sentiments, even some of the wording in the compact to the constitutions of other states, even to the United States Constitution. This was an aspect that I had never seen before.

There is some puzzlement with why they landed in Massachusetts. One document that I have heard of says that it was because they were out of beer on board. The brewing process kills all pathogens in dirty water. This is one way to clean the water for a sea voyage. I have no idea if this is true, but it's a very good story.

I LOVED this book! It had me hooked from the beginning and I couldn't put it down. Honestly the best Pilgrim book I've read so far. I learned so many things about our Pilgrim forefathers that I had never known, and this is coming from someone raised in Plymouth, MA. The book read like a novel, yet was packed full of historical documents and facts. If you want to get the WHOLE story of the pilgrims, the good, the bad, and the ugly, then this book is for you.