Customer Reviews

The Seed of a Nation: Rediscovering America

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This is an amazing snapshot into an important time of America's history. Darrell Fields has thoroughly researched and uncovered the valuable contribution left by William Penn who led the nation by his leadership and exapmle of true "Covenant". This was a fabulous read, and I totally recommend to all.

What "Amazing Grace" did for a generation of people to appreciate the impact of William Wilberforce, "The Seed of a Nation" will do to integrate the principles of William Penn. This is a must read for creating a culture of Honor amongst any displaced people groups by entering into a case study of one who blazed the trail for future pioneers. This is not a scholarly book for History majors but a professional and holistic approach to how a difference was made and can be made to the dilemmas we face today. I have recommended this book to friends and to my graduate students. (Dr. Joseph Umidi).

As Americans we can no longer think our shared history give us a common understanding of the meaning of freedom. Since William Penn's contributions to US History set the tone for freedom, it is wise to know what Penn meant and why. The Fields have done an excellent job of consolidating the evidence for Penn rightful place in US History as a spiritual and political leader. Penn called his colony a Holy Experiment so if you don't have a spiritual aptitude you won't tract well with the Fields' approach. For me this is the first books that I have read on Penn that attempts to engage with Penn's ideals and bring those thoughts into current events. Brillant!

This book paints a fascinating picture of William Penn's place in history as a founding father of America. The authors provide poignant narratives that show Penn's enormous contributions to the founding of a new government of freedom based on covenant, implying that Penn should be studied as enthusiastically as Washington, Jefferson, Adams and other early American leaders. The Seed of a Nation also explains why democracy will only work well when practiced by a public that understand the primacy of covenant relationships based on personal integrity, genuine faith, and generous trust. What I especially liked when I read this book is that the authors cut through the boring dogma of religion and academic soliloquy to get to the heart of matters, focusing on how Penn actually treated others, especially native Americans, and how he formed bonds of friendship that still illuminate how political leaders ought to be leading in the 21st century.

The Seed of a Nation is a great book if you desire a fuller perspective of the founding of America. William Penn, the focus of this well researched work, is a man who sacrificed a life of royalty - a "lower" life - for a much higher one, spiritually speaking. This book addresses "Identificational Repentance", which is vital for real and lasting freedom and change in relationships, personal and national.

The Seed of a Nation is clearly a JEWEL of a read...for William Penn was never written about to date where one could grasp the
full vision of his heart....in one book dedicated to that effort. Of course you need to bring in other truths written where they
were written to authenticate/support the existence of how Penn was when he was and his efforts resound to this very day off the Pennsylvania's Harrisburg
Capitol Walls. This book reveals hidden truths that most of us have lost sight of....very refreshing
to be so reminded. Penn's SEED is still alive in those that "get-it" with the Fields help. Please personally visit with the
Fields tour(s)of our Pennsylvania's Harrisburg Capitol and you will be forever changed.

I am finishing Seed of a Nation and I found it to be very easy to read. I love to read but sometimes authors make it easy to put down. Field's did not make it easy to put down but he did make it uneasy to read with his well documented reporting of English/American and Indian relations.

This book is probably most helpful in studying the history of relations between Whites and Indians even more so than studying William Penn. Infact, I think the authors emotional journey through Indian relations actually made this book less about William Penn and more about Indian affairs.

This is a very worthy read but it is more than just learning about William Penn. I recommend it but warn, it will challenge you to examine the purity and morality of America's founding as we learned it in school.

Naive enthusiasm and quoting huge chunks from other authors is no reason to write a book. The author has almost no grasp of Quaker spirituality, or 17th century history in Britain or North America. Readers who want to learn about Penn's spirituality and politics should get John Moretta's first-rate new (2007) biography of Penn from the excellent and affordable Pearson-Longman Library of American Biography series.