Marooned: Jamestown, Shipwreck, and a New History of America’s Origin by Joseph KellyMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
From the little that is documented about the first English settlement in America, Kelly has stretched an entire book. His overall verdict is that the incredibly inept leadership, strong class divisions, and total ignorance of the locale all contributed to a disaster waiting to happen.
The first Jamestown expedition was completely unprepared for the situation. John Smith, although far from the hero we learned about in school, was at least a strong military commander and was willing to learn from the local Native Americans. The subsequent leaders had twisted views of society and their own importance, typical of the gentleman Englishman at that time.
It was very sad to read about the working-class volunteers who ended up virtual slaves, literally starving to death while their “betters” had enough food and shelter to stay healthy. The most interesting part of that topic was how starvation affects victims psychologically.
The story isn’t all so brutal. The shipwreck of the Sea Venture and the time on Bermuda was actually a walk in the park compared to fellow travelers who made it to Jamestown. And the later years at the settlement were somewhat kinder and gentler.
As you can imagine, there is plenty of time allocated to related topics to give the reader more background. The audiobook was deftly narrated by Bob Souer. I do wish I had access to the bibliography that I assume followed the narrative, so I will borrow the ebook in the near future for that.
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