Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson [Paperback]

Mary White Rowlandson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 3, 2006

A fascinating first-hand account.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 36 pages
• Publisher: Hard Press (November 3, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1406944017
• ISBN-13: 978-1406944013
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,483,452 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars True history written by the person who was there!!!, October 14, 2001

By 

Matthew Bowers (Pleasanton, Ca United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson (Paperback)

I've recently started reading a lot of history. For the most part, I only read books like this one that are taken from diaries. Just like the review written by "plum nuts", most of what we get is revisionist history. None of what he wrote has to do with real truth. You can't ask Mary Rowlandson, but you don't need to, just read her diary!
I have the original 1930 copy of this edition still being sold.
The book is her exact diary starting from the original bloody attack by the Indians in which most of the people were killed and 24 others were kidnapped and ending when she regained freedom. There are also some notes along the way at the bottom of pages which are there to fill in what her family was doing to regain her freedom, which Mary did not know about.
In the 1930 Preface, it states that this is one of America's most highly treasured books & that in 1930 it had been republished more than any but the most famous books. I know it is one of my most treasured!!! ...

26 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars After more that 300 years, introduction needs clarification, February 25, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Pilgrim ancestors-Indian ... (Knoxville, Tennessee) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson (Paperback)

Mary Rowlandson's account stands on its own. In all fairness however, in an enlightened society, any reprints of this pious woman's experience should include a much more complete account of the whole situation. Some facts that should be included in the introduction: 1. It was these same Indians who saved the first pilgrims from starvation and were their friends for many years. They were the Indians we honor at Thanksgiving. 2. Pious and arrogant settlers stole the Indian's land and livelihood, threatening their very survival. 3. Pushed too far, the warriors were striking back in self defense; trying to save their starving families. 3. The British army virtually exterminated the Indians and sold the few survivors, mostly women and children, into slavery in the West Indies. 4. King Phillip was killed; his head put on display in Plymouth for 20 years. Even in 1999, I see no evidence of justice or Christian love in any part of this book. Nor is there evidence that Mary Rowlandson was mistreated by her captors. Why not let history speak for itself lest someone not understand the whole story? Mary Rowlandson found herself clinging to life...just as her captors were clinging to theirs. Who were the savages here?

4.0 out of 5 stars The first American Best-seller, writen by a woman, October 8, 2009

By 

Dalton C. Rocha (Fortaleza, CE, Brazil.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson (Dodo Press) (Paperback)

I read this good book, here in Brazil. This book was writen in the XVII century and is the first American Best-seller, writen by a woman.
Please I didn't read this ediction published by Dodo Press, but an old ediction available online.
The author, Mary White was born in England, but she immigrated with her family to the Massachusetts Bay Colony and grew up there. Mary White married Joseph Rowlandson, a Puritan minister.
She was a deeply religious woman; a true puritan, as you can read in this book. In fact, Mary White writes about God and bible, in almost every page of this short book. Another reviewer told that that Mary White was unfair with the Indians, but she never wrote that her treatment by the Indians, could be better.
The Indians coud not win or even survive, to the war led against them by the whites.
And they know this fact.
The American Indian King Philip or Metacomet was knowed, by the author of this book. In fact, King Philip or Metacomet was the leader of the Indians that captured Mary White. King Philip or Metacomet was murdered by another Indian, in 1676.
Good things in this book:
1- No fiction. All facts are true, even with prejudices, normal when this book was writen.
2- No contaminations with leftists liars borned after this book was writen, such as Jean Jacques Rousseau or Karl Marx. The savages of this book are the real savages, not the hoax of the "good savage" created by Jean Jacques Rousseau.
3- If you want to read the caracter of the persons that started, the strongest military and economic power of all times, this book is a good choice to begin.