Love and Hate in Jamestown

I know what you're thinking already: Eric, I know you read. We all know it. Why don't you review something other than a book.

I will kids, but I have fallen upon good book after good book lately and I just gotta' share 'm. I hope you'll get in the trust tree with me.

As for the newest one (which I intend to purchase for my brother and Dad in the very near future), its by a fellow named David A. Price (a former reporter for Investor's Business Daily and freelancer) and its about the first foothold of English-speaking culture, economics, and politics in North America to stick: Jamestown, (the Glorious Commonwealth of) Virginia.

Love and Hate in Jamestown: John Smith, Pocahontas, and the Heart of a New Nation elaborates on the early history of the first permanent British settlement at great length, dispelling myth and romance with every page. "Bad guys" become either incompetent 'gentlemen' or just ordinary people making uninformed political decisions (clouded by inexperience, naivete, or prejudice). "Good guys" (specifically John Smith and Pocahontas, as well as several other minor players), on the other hand, aren't lauded for their mere "goodness," rather, their specific character traits, skill-sets, and so forth are elaborated upon at length.
It is Smith in particular who holds Price's attention, receiving an elaborate biographical treatment that makes me wonder if Smith shouldn't be studied as another Machiavelli or Sunzi (I intend to read his books soon).

All in all, especially with the 400th Anniversary of the Founding of Jamestown approaching in 2007, I have to say this book is a must read. It really illustrates the differences between the intended "British" form of colonialism (every man an Englishman), the actual practices of English colonialism, and the practices of other nations' colonialism (particularly Spain and Portugal's attrocities). Not only that, it does so without pretending the native Americans (specifically of the Powhatan Confederacy) were naive, Rousseau-pot-dream, Smurf-esque, anti-political, charicatures of themselves: native Americans in Price's version of 17th Century Virginia are militarily savy, political involved people, the New World equivalents, in many respects, of Greek polei.

My favorite parts? Well, in this book that's awfully tough to sort out: the entire breadth and length were fascinating. The outlining of Algonquian linguistic concepts, place names, and political structures ranks up there, as do the details of John Smith's pre-Jamestown life. Price's incredibly insightful explanation of the Starving Time (well-known to anyone who has read about or visited Jamestown), as well as his efforts to become a realpolitick scholar (having read most of the realpolitick works extant during his lifetime) also kept me fascinated. Intriguing as well is the analysis of the change in British attitudes away from cohabitation with native Americans and towards more traditional forms of imperialism as a result not of greed, but of a declining idealism following attempted genocide by certain Powhatan tribes.

Want a little more, eh? Sure. Here is a review from National Review and the official book website (which has several interesting reviews and links).