A Voyage Long and Strange: On the Trail of Vikings, Conquistadors, Lost Colonist

Description: A Voyage Long and Strange by Tony Horwitz The bestselling author of "Blue Latitudes" takes readers on a thrilling and eye-opening voyage to pre-Mayflower America. An irresistible blend of history, myth, and misadventure, this work captures the wonder and drama of first contact. FORMAT Paperback LANGUAGE English CONDITION Brand New Publisher Description A Voyage Long and Strange is a rich mixture of scholarship and modern-day adventure that brings the forgotten first chapter of Americas history vividly to life. What happened in North America between Columbuss sail in 1492 and the Pilgrims arrival in 1620? On a visit to Plymouth Rock, Tony Horwitz realizes he doesnt have a clue, nor do most Americans. So he sets off across the continent to rediscover the wild era when Europeans first roamed the New World in quest of gold, glory, converts, and eternal youth. Horwitz tells the story of these brave and often crazed explorers while retracing their steps on his own epic trek--an odyssey that takes him inside an Indian sweat lodge in subarctic Canada, down the Mississippi in a canoe, on a road trip fueled by buffalo meat, and into sixty pounds of armor as a conquistador reenactor in Florida. Author Biography TONY HORWITZ is the bestselling author of Blue Latitudes, Confederates in the Attic, and Baghdad without a Map. He is also a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who has worked for The Wall Street Journal and The New Yorker. He lives in Massachusetts with his wife, Geraldine Brooks, and their sons, Nathaniel and Bizu. Review "Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Horwitz has presented what could be described as a guide for those who are historically ignorant of the "lost century" between the first voyage of Columbus and the establishment of Jamestown in 1607. In this informative, whimsical, and thoroughly enjoyable account, Horwitz describes the exploits of various explorers and conquistadores and enriches the stories with his own experiences when visiting some of the lands they "discovered." Horwitz writes in a breezy, engaging style, so this combination of popular history and travelogue will be ideal for general readers." --Booklist (starred review) "Irreverent, effervescent... accessible to all ages, hands-on and immensely readable, this book invites readers to search out America s story for themselves." --Kirkus Reviews "This readable and vastly entertaining history travelogue is highly recommended." --Library Journal (starred review) "Funny and lively...popular history of the most accessible sort. The stories [Horwitz] tells are full of vivid characters and wild detail." --The New York Times Book Review "A romp through the sixteenth century.... Horwitz has an ear for a good yarn and an instinct for the trail leading to an entertaining anecdote." --The Washington Post "Honest, wonderfully written, and heroically researched.... Horwitz unearths whole chapters of American history that have been ignored." --Boston Globe "Like travel writer Bill Bryson, Horwitz has a penchant for meeting colorful characters and getting himself into bizarre situations." --The Christian Science Monitor "A sweeping history.... A fascinating story, filled with adventure, Vikings, French voyageurs and those Pilgrims." --The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel "Horwitz is a very funny writer." --Bloomberg News "A winning and eye-opening read.... Horwitzs charm, smarts, impeccable research and curiosity make this a voyage worth taking." --The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) "By conveying our past so heartily, handsomely and winsomely, Tony Horwitz does America proud." --The Providence Journal Review Quote "Wonderfully written, and heroically researched...Horwitz unearths whole chapters of American history that have been ignored."-- The Boston Globe "Poignant and hilarious . . . Riveting."-- The Seattle Times "History of the most accessible sort . . . full of vivid characters and wild detail."-- The New York Times "Entertaining, insightful . . . Rich with reading pleasure."-- The Christian Science Monitor Excerpt from Book Prologue The Pilgrims didnt think much of Cape Cod. "A hideous and desolate wilderness," William Bradford called it. "Full of wild beasts and wild men." Rather than stay, a small party from the Mayflower sailed ahead, searching for a winter haven. In December 1620, they reached Plymouth, a place "fit for situation," Bradford wrote. "At least it was the best they could find." On a New England road trip a few summers ago, I washed up in Plymouth, too. It could have been Dedham or Braintree or some other pit stop on the highway near Boston. But a Red Sox game pulsed on the radio, so I drove until it ended at the Plymouth exit. Stopping for beer at Myles Standish Liquor, I was directed to the William Bradford Motor Inn, the best I could find in peak tourist season. Early the next morning I went for a walk along the waterfront, past a chowder house, a saltwater taffy shop, a wax museum, and a replica Mayflower moored in the bay. Near the water stood a gray historic marker that was terse even by New England standards. Plymouth Rock. Landing Place of the Pilgrims. 1620. I looked around and couldnt see anything except asphalt and a few stones small enough for skipping. Then I spotted a lone speed-walker racing down the sidewalk. "Excuse me," I said, chasing after him, "but wheres Plymouth Rock?" Without breaking stride, he thrust a thumb over his shoulder. "You just passed it." Twenty yards back was a columned enclosure, between the sidewalk and shoreline. Stepping inside, I came to a rail overlooking a shallow pit. At the bottom sat a lump of granite, the wet sand around it strewn with cigarette butts and ticket stubs from the wax museum. The boulder, about five feet square, had a badly mended cleft in the middle. It looked like a fossilized potato. A few minutes later a family arrived. As they entered the portico, the father intoned to his children, "This is where it all began." Then they peered over the rail. "Thats it?" "Guess so." "Its, like, nothing." "Weve got rocks bigger than that in our yard." Before long, the portico was packed: tour bus groups, foreign sightseers, summer campers. Their response followed the same arc, from solemnity to shock to hilarity. But Plymouth Rock was an icon of American history. So visitors dutifully snapped pictures or pointed video cameras down at the static granite. "Thats going to be one heckuva home movie." "Yeah. My Visit to Plymouth Pebble." "The Pilgrims must have had small feet." I went over to chat with a woman in green shorts and tan shirt standing outside the enclosure, counting visitors with a hand clicker. Claire Olsen was a veteran park ranger at Plymouth, accustomed to hearing tourists abuse the sacred stone. "A lot of people come here expecting the Rock of Gibraltar," she said. "Maybe thats where they went on their last vacation." She was also accustomed to fielding odd questions. Was it true that the Mayflower crashed into Plymouth Rock? Did the Pilgrims serve Thanksgiving on top of it? The bronze, ten-foot-tall Indian on a hill overlooking the rock-was he life-sized? The most common question, though, concerned the date etched into the rocks surface. Why did it say 1620, visitors wondered, rather than 1492? Wasnt that when Columbus arrived? "Or they ask, Is this where the three ships landed?" Claire said. "They mean the Ni Details ISBN0312428324 Author Tony Horwitz Short Title VOYAGE LONG & STRANGE Language English ISBN-10 0312428324 ISBN-13 9780312428327 Media Book Format Paperback DEWEY 970.01 Year 2009 Residence Waterford, VA, US Birth 1958 Subtitle On the Trail of Vikings, Conquistadors, Lost Colonists, and Other Adventurers in Early America Imprint St Martins Press Place of Publication New York Country of Publication United States AU Release Date 2009-04-27 NZ Release Date 2009-04-27 US Release Date 2009-04-27 UK Release Date 2009-04-27 Pages 464 Publisher St Martins Press Publication Date 2009-04-27 Illustrations Maps; Illustrations, black and white Audience General We've got this At The Nile, if you're looking for it, we've got it. 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