Sea Venture: Shipwreck, Survival, and the Salvation of the First English Colony in the New World (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "In the spring of 1609, all London was filled with talk of Virginia..." (more)
Key Phrases: palisaded town, shipwreck survivors, starving time, Sea Venture, Virginia Company, Sir Thomas Gates (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In 1609, the two-year-old English settlement in Jamestown was struggling to survive, having been decimated by hostile Native Americans, disease, political mismanagement and lack of food. Early in the summer, a fleet of nine ships and over 600 hopeful settlers left England to bring supplies and new life to the beleaguered colony. The flagship, Sea Venture, never made it to Jamestown: swept off course by a hurricane, it landed in Bermuda. Doherty, an author of biographies for young adults, vividly recreates the journey of the Sea Venture, the survival of its passengers and the eventual rebuilding of two new ships (Patience and Deliverance) from the Sea Venture's timbers. A year and a half after leaving England, the Sea Venture's passengers landed at the Virginia settlement only to find it on the verge of extinction. The ship's leaders refashioned the charter of the settlement, strove to establish new relationships with the Native Americans and restored the colony's agricultural fortunes, assuring the English a foothold in the New World. The most famous account of this shipwreck is Shakespeare's The Tempest, but Doherty's fast-paced and colorful blow-by-blow account is a swashbuckling tale of adventure in the age of exploration. 8 pages of b&w photos. (May)
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Product Description

In one of the most triumphant high sea stories ever told, Kieran Doherty brings to life the true story of the ship that rescued the Jamestown settlement in 1610 and ensured England's place in the New World. When the Sea Venture left England in 1609, it was flagship in a fleet of nine bound for Jamestown with roughly 600 settlers and badly needed supplies aboard. But after four weeks at sea, as the voyage neared its end, a hurricane devastated the fleet, leaving the Sea Venture shipwrecked on the island of Bermuda. It took Sea Venture’s passengers nearly a year and half to reach their destination. Awaiting them was not a thriving colony, but instead the remaining fifty colonists—beleaguered, desperate and hungry. But, the question remains, would the English have lost their place in the New World if the ship never arrived? A story of strife and triumph, but above all, endurance, Sea Venture begins and ends in hope and remains one of the greatest “What Ifs?” in history. With a bravado reminiscent of Patrick O’Brien’s legendary sea sagas, Doherty braves the elements, delivering a powerful history willed by a people destined to change the New World forever.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press; 1 edition (May 15, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312354533
• ISBN-13: 978-0312354534
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #633,758 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Can't Knock It, October 2, 2007

By	Jason Galbraith (Gallup, New Mexico United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Kieran Doherty writes the most detailed history of Virginia from 1609 to 1622 that I have ever read. I also own "American Slavery, American Freedom" and "Love and Hate in Jamestown," but this one contains all the crucial facts found in those two books and more for its selected time frame. For example, I had never read before that Pocahontas was married before John Rolfe (it appears the marriage failed or her first husband, a Powhatan warrior, was killed in battle with the English; no one knows for certain). The overall argument is similar to that of other recent histories of early Virginia -- the Virginia Company, desperate to turn a profit, was responsible for sending too many people too fast into Virginia to ensure the survival of more than a fifth of them; and Wahunsonacock, also known as Powhatan, missed his chance to annihilate the colony in 1610 just before the passengers of the ship for which the book is named, finally arrived in Virginia.

On top of this, you get to read about the quasi-accidental founding of Bermuda as an English colony, and details about people who were instrumental in the founding of Virginia, such as the Earl of Southampton, who was almost beheaded for treason in 1601 after his friend the Earl of Essex commissioned a performance of "Richard II" as a signal to revolt against Queen Elizabeth! I join my fellow customer reviewers in giving this book five stars.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a great read, May 19, 2007

By	Morgan Francis (New York) - See all my reviews

one of the best histories I've read. Fast paced. Dramatic. Full of fascinating details. If you like adventures of any sort, read this book. If you like sea adventures, run to buy it.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Colorful Look at the Trials and Tribulations of Founding Jamestown and Bermuda, July 19, 2007

By	Professor Donald Mitchell "Jesus Makes Me a P... (Boston) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)

When Jamestown was established 400 years ago, the original English colonists made several mistakes: locating in a swampy area that bred more disease than crops, bringing people who were unsuited for farming, planning to live off the land without farming or hunting or fishing, and expecting that they would soon find fortunes in gold. Those mistakes were compounded when the false assumptions behind them continued to be believed in England.

Sea Venture is a book that picks up the story of Jamestown after the settlement had all but failed, as a relief fleet heads its way to bring more supplies and settlers. One of the unexpected events is that Sea Venture, the leader of the fleet, is lost on a Bermuda reef from which the colonists escape by building their own boats. In the process, they correctly learn that Bermuda was an easier place to plant a new colony than Jamestown. The story branches off to describe the development of English Bermuda as well.

In Virginia, Mr. Doherty does a fine job of capturing the perspectives of various people, including the Native Americans. Although the historical record is bare in many details, he makes reasonable speculations about the details of various events and what the participants might have thought and done.

I don't remember a more candid book about the foolishness and savagery of the English, or one that attempts to describe the Native American thinking and actions in such detail. As a result, it's a more balanced portrayal that probably comes reasonably close to presenting what happened.

I particularly liked the way that Mr. Doherty weaves threads together, like exploring the possible effect that the story of Sea Venture's loss may have had on Shakespeare's writing of The Tempest. The initial connection between Captain John Smith and Pocahontas is carried forward into the eventual marriage of John Rolfe and Pocahontas . . . and the eventual basis of the colony in tobacco exports developed by Rolfe that were eventually facilitated by slaves who accidentally came to those shores. From such small beginnings, mighty consequences followed that continue to affect us today. It's a marvelous example of the value of studying history.

Those who want a more socially oriented version of the Jamestown history may be a bit disappointed. This book is primarily based on traditional historical writing . . . featuring big events, key figures, and conflicts.

But it's fun and very relevant as the 400th anniversary of these events looms in the next few years.