In 1587, John White and 117 men, women, and children landed off the coast of North Carolina on Roanoke Island, hoping to carve a colony from fearsome wilderness. A mere month later, facing quickly diminishing supplies and a fierce native population, White sailed back to England in desperation. He persuaded the wealthy Sir Walter Raleigh, the expedition's sponsor, to rescue the imperiled colonists, but by the time White returned with aid the colonists of Roanoke were nowhere to be found. He never saw his friends or family again.
In this gripping account based on new archival material, colonial historian James Horn tells for the first time the complete story of what happened to the Roanoke colonists and their descendants. A compellingly original examination of one of the great unsolved mysteries of American history, A Kingdom Strange will be essential reading for anyone interested in our national origins.

A Kingdom Strange: The Brief and Tragic History of the Lost Colony of Roanoke

History

Horn, James

Americas

Basic Books

The "gripping adventure story" (Christian Science Monitor) of the Lost Colony of Roanoke and the mystery at the center of the American founding In 1587, John White led 118 English men, women, and children to Roanoke Island, off the coast of North Carolina, intending to establish the first English colony in America. Faced with dwindling supplies and hostile Indians, they soon found themselves struggling to survive. White returned to England for help, but when he returned to Roanoke in 1590, the colonists were nowhere to be found; never saw his friends or family again. Their disappearance has remained a mystery for four centuries, but as James Horn reveals in A Kingdom Strange, some from the party survived. Their descendants were discovered a century later, a living testament to America's remarkable origins.

Biographies & Memoirs

Historical

Jamestown -the first permanent English settlement in North America, after the disappearance of the Roanoke colony-is often given short shrift in histories of America. Founded thirteen years before the Mayflower landed, Jamestown occupies less space in our cultural memory than the Pilgrims of Plymouth. But as historian James Horn points out, many of the key tensions of Jamestown's early years became central to American history, for good and for ill: Jamestown introduced slavery into English-speaking North America; it became the first of England's colonies to adopt a representative government; and, it was the site of the first clashes between whites and Indians over territorial expansion. Jamestown began the tenuous, often violent, mingling of different peoples that came to embody the American experience. A Land as God Made It puts the Jamestown experience in the context of European geopolitics, giving prominence to the Spanish threat to extinguish the colony at the earliest opportunity. Jamestown-unlike Plymouth or Massachusetts-was England's bid to establish an empire to challenge the Spanish. With unparalleled knowledge of Jamestown's role in early American history, James Horn has written the definitive account of the colony that gave rise to America.

A Land As God Made It: Jamestown and the Birth of America

The definitive history of the Jamestown colony, the crucible of American history Although it was the first permanent English settlement in North America, Jamestown is too often overlooked in the writing of American history. Founded thirteen years before the Mayflower sailed, Jamestown's courageous settlers have been overshadowed ever since by the pilgrims of Plymouth. But as historian James Horn demonstrates in this vivid and meticulously researched account, Jamestown-not Plymouth-was the true crucible of American history. Jamestown introduced slavery into English-speaking North America; it became the first of England's colonies to adopt a representative government; and it was the site of the first white-Indian clashes over territorial expansion. A Land As God Made It offers the definitive account of the colony that give rise to America.

In the mid-sixteenth century, Spanish explorers in the Chesapeake region kidnapped an Indian teenager and took him back to Spain, a common occurrence at the time. What was uncommon in this case was that the young man eventually came back. During his time abroad, the boy lived in Madrid, Seville, Havana, and Mexico City, becoming a favorite of King Philip II and converting to Catholicism in the process. In fact, his faith grew so strong, he said, that he felt compelled to help establish a Jesuit mission to save the souls of his people back in Virginia-but shortly after the group arrived in the New World, he abandoned his fellow missionaries, rejoined his family, and soon returned with a small band of warriors to slaughter the Europeans. In the years that followed, he became the warrior chief known as Opechancanough, and alongside his brother Wahunsonacock (father of Pocahontas), he solidified their people's control of coastal Virginia, making the Powhatans the most powerful Indian chiefdom on the mid-Atlantic seaboard. Under their reign, the region remained free of European settlers until 1607, when English colonists arrived in Jamestown. But this was not so unbalanced an encounter as many have supposed. Because of his time among the Europeans, Opechancanough was acutely aware not only of the English settlers' technological capabilities, but also of the fierce determination with which they would pursue their invasion of his homeland. As time passed, the two chiefs sought to drive the invaders out, and mounted a series of attacks that nearly destroyed the colony at Jamestown. But the English settlers proved more resilient than the Spanish missionaries had been forty years earlier. Additional soldiers, weapons, and provisions arrived from England, forcing Opechancanough to drag his offensive on for decades. He survived to be nearly a hundred years old and died as he lived, fighting the invaders. A Brave and Cunning Prince is the first book to chronicle the life of Opechancanough, exploring his early exposure to European society and his lifelong fight to protect the integrity of his homeland. With engrossing storytelling, deep research, and surprising insights, A Brave and Cunning Prince will be vital reading for anyone seeking to understand the charged early encounters between the indigenous peoples of North America and the settlers who would bring death and destruction.

A Brave and Cunning Prince: The Great Chief Opechancanough and the War for America

Community & Culture

The essential history of the extraordinary year in which American democracy and American slavery emerged hand in hand in colonial Virginia. Along the banks of the James River, Virginia, during an oppressively hot spell in the middle of summer 1619, two events occurred within a few weeks of each other that would profoundly shape the course of history. In the newly built church at Jamestown, the General Assembly -- the first gathering of a representative governing body in America -- came together. A few weeks later, a battered privateer entered the Chesapeake Bay carrying the first African slaves to land on mainland English America. In 1619, historian James Horn sheds new light on the year that gave birth to the great paradox of our nation: slavery in the midst of freedom. This portentous year marked both the origin of the most important political development in American history, the rise of democracy, and the emergence of what would in time become one of the nation's greatest challenges: the corrosive legacy of racial inequality that has afflicted America since its beginning.

1619: Jamestown and the Forging of American Democracy

Often compared unfavorably with colonial New England, the early Chesapeake has been portrayed as irreligious, unstable, and violent. In this important new study, James Horn challenges this conventional view and looks across the Atlantic to assess the enduring influence of English attitudes, values, and behavior on the social and cultural evolution of the early Chesapeake. Using detailed local and regional studies to compare everyday life in English provincial society and the emergent societies of the Chesapeake Bay, Horn provides a richly textured picture of the immigrants' Old World backgrounds and their adjustment to life in America. Until the end of the seventeenth century, most settlers in Virginia and Maryland were born and raised in England, a factor of enormous consequence for social development in the two colonies. By stressing the vital social and cultural connections between England and the Chesapeake during this period, Horn places the development of early America in the context of a vibrant Anglophone transatlantic world and suggests a fundamental reinterpretation of New World society.

Adapting to a New World: English Society in the Seventeenth-Century Chesapeake (Published by the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture and the University of North Carolina Press)

Omohundro Institute and UNC Press

Often compared unfavorably with colonial New England, the early Chesapeake has been portrayed as irreligious, unstable, and violent. In this important new study, James Horn challenges this conventional view and looks across the Atlantic to assess the enduring influence of English attitudes, values, and behavior on the social and cultural evolution of the early Chesapeake. Using detailed local and regional studies to compare everyday life in English provincial society and the emergent societies of the Chesapeake Bay, Horn provides a richly textured picture of the immigrants' Old World backgrounds and their adjustment to life in America. Until the end of the seventeenth century, most settlers in Virginia and Maryland were born and raised in England, a factor of enormous consequence for social development in the two colonies. By stressing the vital social and cultural connections between England and the Chesapeake during this period, Horn places the development of early America in the context of a vibrant Anglophone transatlantic world and suggests a fundamental reinterpretation of New World society.

Omohundro Institute and University of North Carolina Press

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Books by Horn, James

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Horn, James. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

A Kingdom Strange: The Brief and Tragic History of the Lost Colony of Roanoke

A Kingdom Strange: The Brief and Tragic History of the Lost Colony of Roanoke

A Land As God Made It: Jamestown and the Birth of America

A Land As God Made It: Jamestown and the Birth of America

A Brave and Cunning Prince: The Great Chief Opechancanough and the War for America

1619: Jamestown and the Forging of American Democracy

Adapting to a New World: English Society in the Seventeenth-Century Chesapeake (Published by the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture and the University of North Carolina Press)

Adapting to a New World: English Society in the Seventeenth-Century Chesapeake (Published by the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture and the University of North Carolina Press)