They Knew They Were Pilgrims, John G. Turner
They Knew They Were Pilgrims, John G. Turner
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They Knew They Were Pilgrims
Plymouth Colony and the Contest for American Liberty

Author: John G. Turner

Narrator: Bob Souer

Unabridged: 13 hr 1 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 04/07/2020


Synopsis

An ambitious new history of the Pilgrims and Plymouth Colony, published for the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower's landing.

In 1620, separatists from the Church of England set sail across the Atlantic aboard the Mayflower. Understanding themselves as spiritual pilgrims, they left to preserve their liberty to worship God in accordance with their understanding of the Bible.

There exists, however, an alternative, more dispiriting version of their story. In it, the Pilgrims are religious zealots who persecuted dissenters and decimated the Native peoples through warfare and by stealing their land. The Pilgrims' definition of liberty was, in practice, very narrow.

Drawing on original research using underutilized sources, John G. Turner moves beyond these familiar narratives in his sweeping and authoritative new history of Plymouth Colony. Instead of depicting the Pilgrims as otherworldly saints or extraordinary sinners, he tells how a variety of English settlers and Native peoples engaged in a contest for the meaning of American liberty.

About John G. Turner

John G. Turner is professor of religious studies at George Mason University and the award-winning author of Brigham Young: Pioneer Prophet. He lives in Burke, Virginia.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Anson on February 08, 2021

Although John G. Turner is a professor of religious studies at George Mason University, he writes well and doesn’t genuflect to every politically correct piety that academics are expected to affirm these days. As the subtitle implies, Turner organizes this history of Plymouth colony (1620-1691) arou......more

Goodreads review by Moonkiszt on June 12, 2020

A complicated legacy, from the very beginning. John G. Turner pulls no punches in They Knew They Were Pilgrims. As he reminds the reader - they knew they were pilgrims. This group of some strangers, some friends, some relatives, some congregations had been moving from one rejecting shore to another,......more

Goodreads review by Nate on March 16, 2022

They Knew They Were Pilgrims is a balanced, well researched account of the history of Plymouth Colony from its founding in 1620 to its merger with the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1691. This is a fact based volume that steers away from both idealizing these founders and from lionizing them as an evil......more

Goodreads review by Stefanie on May 25, 2024

This book was required reading for my Colonial America class. While I found the information useful for my assignments, I cannot say that I was very interested in the content.......more