Embarrassingly, the only knowledge I had about the colony of Jamestown was from the bits and pieces I remember watching from Disney's Pocahontas.

Yup.

And so I leaped headfirst into James Horn's A Land as God Made it and kicked ignorance's ass. I now know so much about the infamous colony. The story of James Smith and Pocahontas was not what I thought it was. At all. And the horrendous "Starving Time" that occurred in the colony pushed the colonists into cannibalism! Aside from fleeting moments of peace between the English and the Powhatan Indians, there was constant war. The "Indian Massacre of 1622" left hundreds slaughtered and settlements reduced to ash. And there is so much more.

I found Horns' writing to be simple and eloquent. The history is presented as a narrative and so it was easy to follow the different characters and the flux of events that took place from 1607 onward. I found it all fascinating and was astonished at the fact that the colony eventually flourished despite constantly befalling to sickness, disease and death.

Jamestown's success eventually helped spur the growth of the other colonies and gave birth to the United States that we know today. ( )

So, I may be a bit biased here, since I did my fieldwork at Jamestown while I was in college and I met Jim Horn on several occasions. However, I do think that this is one of the better histories of Jamestown! More importantly, the writing is engaging rather than simply informative and this can make or break a history book.

I would certainly recommend it to anyone interested in early Colonial American history! ( )

Not your average history book. The narrative style makes it interesting. It's always good to know more about your nation's past. ( )

Review