Call number
974.4 BUN
Collection
Publication
Vintage (2010), Edition: 1, 512 pages
Description
The Pilgrims were entrepreneurs as well as evangelicals, political radicals as well as Christian idealists. "Making Haste from Babylon" tells their story in unrivaled depth, from their roots in religious conflict and village strife at home to their final creation of a permanent foothold in America.
Media reviews
Bunker is particularly thorough in documenting the Pilgrims’ plight in England, as well as their social origins: rather than “simple folk from an obscure place,” as was once believed, they were “the nouveaux riches of rural England.” But his most memorable passages are his descriptions of
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the geography that produced this epic movement: the rainy meadows and the flooded river valleys of the East Midlands; the stinking canals of the booming city of Leiden; the narrow alleys where the Puritans gathered in London; and the salt marshes of Massachusetts. Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member cbl_tn
This book examines factors that led to the success of the Plymouth Colony. These factors were largely economic and political. There’s still plenty of discussion of religion (Catholic, Anglican, Puritan, Separatist, Huguenots), but the in-depth exploration of the economic and political climate is
The very early settlement of New England was achieved entirely by private enterprise. The traces it left linger in obscure, unfashionable places, in archives relating to trade, lawsuits, and the sea. These are often hardly touched at all.
Highly recommended for readers wanting something a little different from the standard histories of the Pilgrims and the Plymouth Colony.
Show More
what stands out. What did beaver pelts have to do with the success of the Plymouth Colony? A lot, it seems. With a background in investment banking and financial journalism, Nick Bunker is well-suited to explain the economic links between the Old and New Worlds in a way that the average reader can both understand and enjoy. To accomplish this, Bunker mined archival repositories for “forgotten” resources. In his words:The very early settlement of New England was achieved entirely by private enterprise. The traces it left linger in obscure, unfashionable places, in archives relating to trade, lawsuits, and the sea. These are often hardly touched at all.
Highly recommended for readers wanting something a little different from the standard histories of the Pilgrims and the Plymouth Colony.
Show Less
LibraryThing member PhyllisHarrison
What can prevent you from getting the sleep you need (and want) and keep you up until the early hours of the morning?
The answer is either fear of nightmares or reading Making Haste from Babylon by Nick Bunker.
Whether it is explaining in a clear and concise summary the dual and very different
The lovely little tale that we all grew up with dissipates and pales in comparison with what the historical records reveal: The earlier scrapes with the law in England including rebellious and seditious acts, graffiti in a church and the horrific events of an earlier attempt by the “Puritans” to make for the Netherlands when one ship was forced to depart from England with just the men, leaving women and children behind on the shore to face the wrath of their government alone.
Nick Bunker calls an Abenaki an Abenaki, and distinguishes very well between the different Native Americans, not just of one Indian versus another, but of different tribes although they might both be Algonkian. He mentions the issues they had among themselves before the arrival of the Europeans and this clarification is something that even the American writers don’t seem to understand or at least to explain very well.
He explains the differences in background and perspective between the various Puritan leaders and as one researcher already knew (she had already read every document she could find pertaining to her relative), Edward Winslow was different in outlook and spiritual orientation from the other leaders of the group. We get a real sense as to who these individuals were and what their motivations might have been. We explore their hometowns in England, the land they were familiar with before they left and we have an understanding of why, when they saw the salt marshes of Massachusetts, there was an instant familiarity with this kind of landscape.
Sharing a background with the author in finance, I eagerly drank in every detail of the tonnage of the vessels, the layout of the decks, how they packed all those cattle on board for the trip over and which route they must have taken due to the information in the ship’s manifest. I confess here and now that I am always just a little curious about what is on other people’s shopping lists and I got a very satisfying peek at the inventory on the supply ships that sent goods over to the struggling colonists.
As someone who does some historical research myself, I work hard to fully understand the documents, occasionally spending weeks on a single one. It is obvious that Nick Bunker took the time to examine the details in the documents that he looked at. Face value is not always what it seems to the casual reader and thankfully Nick Bunker takes a little time to walk the novice through his mental process. I have gone down that same road, looking up old Latin phrases and previous documents to decipher what is really going on here, a mere Last Will and Testament or an opportunity for the deceased to have his final revenge on his heirs.
This great book is many little volumes in one, thoroughly researched through many different written sources and routes personally traveled by the author. I’m certain that my local library was exasperated with my renewals as I had to re-read each section so often. I will just have to buy it: It’s too important not to have on my bookshelf.
If you think Nick Bunker has done it all for you and brought us a mountain of new information, you would be wrong and you would be right:
Rightly so, he indicates there are stacks of documents that no one has even looked at yet, giving all of us genealogists, researchers and historians (amateur and professional alike) great hope for future finds but he has also shown us a slice of history, free of the heavy sugar coating, but much more satisfying.
The answer is either fear of nightmares or reading Making Haste from Babylon by Nick Bunker.
Whether it is explaining in a clear and concise summary the dual and very different
Show More
vantage points and roles of Squanto versus Samoset (I never knew the origin of Samoset’s name although I should have guessed!), the role that maps, geography and topography played in history (accompanied by photos taken by the author himself of completely unremarkable areas and buildings except when they take on new significance due to information in the narrative), or the role the French city of La Rochelle played not just in the French Huguenots’ emigrations, but also in the Separatists’ motivation to come to the American shores, he does it well. The lovely little tale that we all grew up with dissipates and pales in comparison with what the historical records reveal: The earlier scrapes with the law in England including rebellious and seditious acts, graffiti in a church and the horrific events of an earlier attempt by the “Puritans” to make for the Netherlands when one ship was forced to depart from England with just the men, leaving women and children behind on the shore to face the wrath of their government alone.
Nick Bunker calls an Abenaki an Abenaki, and distinguishes very well between the different Native Americans, not just of one Indian versus another, but of different tribes although they might both be Algonkian. He mentions the issues they had among themselves before the arrival of the Europeans and this clarification is something that even the American writers don’t seem to understand or at least to explain very well.
He explains the differences in background and perspective between the various Puritan leaders and as one researcher already knew (she had already read every document she could find pertaining to her relative), Edward Winslow was different in outlook and spiritual orientation from the other leaders of the group. We get a real sense as to who these individuals were and what their motivations might have been. We explore their hometowns in England, the land they were familiar with before they left and we have an understanding of why, when they saw the salt marshes of Massachusetts, there was an instant familiarity with this kind of landscape.
Sharing a background with the author in finance, I eagerly drank in every detail of the tonnage of the vessels, the layout of the decks, how they packed all those cattle on board for the trip over and which route they must have taken due to the information in the ship’s manifest. I confess here and now that I am always just a little curious about what is on other people’s shopping lists and I got a very satisfying peek at the inventory on the supply ships that sent goods over to the struggling colonists.
As someone who does some historical research myself, I work hard to fully understand the documents, occasionally spending weeks on a single one. It is obvious that Nick Bunker took the time to examine the details in the documents that he looked at. Face value is not always what it seems to the casual reader and thankfully Nick Bunker takes a little time to walk the novice through his mental process. I have gone down that same road, looking up old Latin phrases and previous documents to decipher what is really going on here, a mere Last Will and Testament or an opportunity for the deceased to have his final revenge on his heirs.
This great book is many little volumes in one, thoroughly researched through many different written sources and routes personally traveled by the author. I’m certain that my local library was exasperated with my renewals as I had to re-read each section so often. I will just have to buy it: It’s too important not to have on my bookshelf.
If you think Nick Bunker has done it all for you and brought us a mountain of new information, you would be wrong and you would be right:
Rightly so, he indicates there are stacks of documents that no one has even looked at yet, giving all of us genealogists, researchers and historians (amateur and professional alike) great hope for future finds but he has also shown us a slice of history, free of the heavy sugar coating, but much more satisfying.
Show Less
LibraryThing member TerriBooks
If the last time you thought about the Mayflower and the Pilgrims was elementary school, wow - here's the grown-up story. This is a fascinating, detailed, thoroughly researched, and painfully exact book. Unfortunately, the bigger story that grabbed my attention was often overwhelmed by the sheer
On the other hand, I am very glad I read it. Who knew how important beavers were to the whole enterprise? Who knew about the relationship between religion, politics and the economy that motivated the pilgrims? Now I can put this quintessential American story into context with what I have learned about European settlement in North America. It has really helped me make connections I had never thought of. I particularly loved the times when the author visited the places he wrote about, and described how even today you can still get a feeling for the influence of the geography on what happened in the 17th century. I've added some places I want to visit to my list.
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magnitude of reporting on every detail and facet of the pilgrims' lives from 1570 to the 1620s. Lots of it was worthwhile, and, to be fair, the author wrote a history, not a novel, but maybe a little restraint in the sheer volume of included facts, figures and relationships would have helped make this a more readable book.On the other hand, I am very glad I read it. Who knew how important beavers were to the whole enterprise? Who knew about the relationship between religion, politics and the economy that motivated the pilgrims? Now I can put this quintessential American story into context with what I have learned about European settlement in North America. It has really helped me make connections I had never thought of. I particularly loved the times when the author visited the places he wrote about, and described how even today you can still get a feeling for the influence of the geography on what happened in the 17th century. I've added some places I want to visit to my list.
Show Less
LibraryThing member mojomomma
This book was packed with details, giving the reader the full-blown (excrutiating?) details about the economic, social, cultural, political, nautical and even astronomical conditions that the Puritans/Separatists found themselves in the late 16th and early 17th century England. A number of these
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conditions came into play to make forming a colony in North America an attractive option and even more seemingly unrelated conditions came into play to ensured the success of the colony after the first several lean years. I found myself only able to digest a few pages at a time and I found the author's writing style convoluted. I found myself editing as I read, which is probably one reason I didn't enjoy this book, although I did (eventually) finish it! Show Less
LibraryThing member snash
I've read several books about the Mayflower and the Pilgrims. This contained lots of information lacking in others. The motivating conditions in England and Europe, the ongoing interaction between the colony and England, and the contribution of economic and political factors in Plymouth's founding
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and survival all are masterfully fleshed out in this book. I also liked the portraits drawn of several of the major players. Show Less
LibraryThing member antiquary
Interesting for putting the well-known Mayflower story in a broader context of both European history (trhe Dutch Revolt, the Seige of La Rochelle) and the American background (the Abenaki and other Native peoples, the importance of the beaver fur trade.)
LibraryThing member cbl_tn
This book examines factors that led to the success of the Plymouth Colony. These factors were largely economic and political. There’s still plenty of discussion of religion (Catholic, Anglican, Puritan, Separatist, Huguenots), but the in-depth exploration of the economic and political climate is
The very early settlement of New England was achieved entirely by private enterprise. The traces it left linger in obscure, unfashionable places, in archives relating to trade, lawsuits, and the sea. These are often hardly touched at all.
Highly recommended for readers wanting something a little different from the standard histories of the Pilgrims and the Plymouth Colony.
Show More
what stands out. What did beaver pelts have to do with the success of the Plymouth Colony? A lot, it seems. With a background in investment banking and financial journalism, Nick Bunker is well-suited to explain the economic links between the Old and New Worlds in a way that the average reader can both understand and enjoy. To accomplish this, Bunker mined archival repositories for “forgotten” resources. In his words:The very early settlement of New England was achieved entirely by private enterprise. The traces it left linger in obscure, unfashionable places, in archives relating to trade, lawsuits, and the sea. These are often hardly touched at all.
Highly recommended for readers wanting something a little different from the standard histories of the Pilgrims and the Plymouth Colony.
Show Less
LibraryThing member gayla.bassham
Interesting but oddly organized. I felt like it kept switching back and forth between topics and I kept getting lost. Possibly this had to do with my attention span more than anything else.
LibraryThing member rynk
The Mayflower colony's economic underpinnings take up much of this book -- half of it takes place in England, and much of the rest along New World trade routes. Thanksgiving is a sidebar here, and most pilgrims are minor characters. My copy from the Chicago Public Library was also instructive on
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how the city is closing its budget gap: It included a blue slip of paper saying "A review copy from Alfred A. Knopf" with the phone number and email of the author's publicist. Show Less
LibraryThing member tuckerresearch
This is the way a good historian is supposed to research and write. Nick Bunker delved into numerous archives, finding sources previous historians have forgotten, and come up with some new tidbits. But, more importantly than this, he puts the "Pilgrims" in their historical context: reaching back to
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the 1580s and the reign of Elizabeth and elucidating events in England, Ireland, Scotland, France, Holland, and New England that impact and impinge on the lives of the Separatists and others who first went to Plimouth/Plymouth in 1620. The result is more interesting and full than "some Scrooby dissenting Puritans wanted religious liberty, moved to Leiden in Holland and then went to New England." The Pilgrims were religious, Bunker does not detract from that, but, he also notes just how much politics, warfare, and economics lay behind the urge to emigrate, the timing of the movement, and the results of the movement. The result is an easy-to-read and engaging new account that tells the story of the New England colonization in a way that should be the start for any New Englander interested in the history of the place, students of US history, transatlantic history, and scholars of Elizabethan England. It is a fine book. Good maps and illustrations (though more of the latter would have been interesting and could be done). A fine set of endnotes and "Further Reading" section. One of the best books on American colonization i have read in awhile. Show Less
Awards
Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction (Longlist — 2010)
Pages
512