"The body of a very special lady lies under the water, waiting. As each year of her long, lonely vigil passes, piece after rotting piece of her broken corpse silently drifts away.

From acclaimed historian and biographer Rebecca Fraser comes a vivid narrative history of the Mayflower and of the Winslow family, who traveled to America in search of a new world. “There is nothing sleep-inducing about the chronicle crafted by Ms. Fraser . . . There is more to the Pilgrims’ story—more to American identity and character—than our Thanksgiving rituals and reveries.” —Wall Street Journal The voyage of the Mayflower and the founding of Plymouth Colony is one of the seminal events in world history. But the poorly-equipped group of English Puritans who ventured across the Atlantic in the early autumn of 1620 had no sense they would pass into legend. They had eighty casks of butter and two dogs but no cattle for milk, meat, or ploughing. They were ill-prepared for the brutal journey and the new land that few of them could comprehend. But the Mayflower story did not end with these Pilgrims’ arrival on the coast of New England or their first uncertain years as settlers. Rebecca Fraser traces two generations of one ordinary family and their extraordinary response to the challenges of life in America. Edward Winslow, an apprentice printer, fled England and then Holland for a life of religious freedom and opportunity. Despite the intense physical trials of settlement, he found America exotic, enticing, and endlessly interesting. He built a home and a family, and his remarkable friendship with King Massassoit, Chief of the Wampanoags, is part of the legend of Thanksgiving. Yet, fifty years later, Edward’s son Josiah was commanding the New England militias against Massassoit’s son in King Philip’s War. The Mayflower is an intensely human portrait of the Winslow family written with the pace of an epic. Rebecca Fraser details domestic life in the seventeenth century, the histories of brave and vocal Puritan women and the contradictions between generations as fathers and sons made the painful decisions which determined their future in America.

A Times History Book of the Year The voyage of the Mayflower is one of the seminal events in world history. But the story did not end with her arrival on the frozen coast of New England in 1620. In an epic history, Rebecca Fraser relates one ordinary family’s extraordinary response to the challenges of life in America. Despite the intense physical trials of living in the New World, Edward Winslow found America exotic and enticing. His remarkable friendship with Massasoit, the King of the Wampanoags, is part of the legend of Thanksgiving. Yet, fifty years later, Edward’s son Josiah was commanding the New England militias against Massasoit’s son in King Philip’s War. A fast-paced intensely human portrait, The Mayflower Generation reveals the contradictions between generations as they made the painful decisions that determined the future of America.

An amusing collection of lives and stories from the eccentric side of Canada’s history. A joyous romp through the back pages of Canadian quirkiness, Canadian Folk provides a fresh look at the saints, sinners, oddballs, and outright nutbars who have populated the Canadian landscape. They were perpetually northbound or south; they were inveterate walkers, or world class runners, millionaires in ill-advised Citroen half-tracks. The restless characters who spanned those miles and who fill the pages of this book were fuelled by the ambitions, the doubts, and the certainties of their times, a certainty that now seems unfathomable to us and frequently maddening. From doomed explorers to celebrated poets of cheese, this collection provides a fascinating look at the eminent and no-so-eminent characters who came before us and left their colourful mark on Canada’s history.

Since it set sail from Plymouth, England, in 1620, the Mayflower has captured the imagination. In this thrilling text, readers will embark on that illustrious voyage across the Atlantic, learning about the vessel, passengers, crew, and provisions, and debunking myths about the famous journey along the way. Each informative chapter is accompanied by engaging historical accounts that make readers feel like they're there. Those brave enough to face sickness, cramped quarters, and rough seas for the adventure of a lifetime are invited to climb aboard.

A riveting day-by-day account of the Mayflower crossing based on actual journals, public records, and letters. Ages 10-14