Pocahontas and the English Boys - by Karen Ordahl Kupperman (Hardcover)

About the Book

"Pocahontas and the English Boys" explores the culture of Early Virginia."--Provided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

The captivating story of four young people--English and Powhatan--who lived their lives between cultures

In Pocahontas and the English Boys, the esteemed historian Karen Ordahl Kupperman shifts the lens on the well-known narrative of Virginia's founding to reveal the previously untold and utterly compelling story of the youths who, often unwillingly, entered into cross-cultural relationships--and became essential for the colony's survival. Their story gives us unprecedented access to both sides of early Virginia.

Here for the first time outside scholarly texts is an accurate portrayal of Pocahontas, who, from the age of ten, acted as emissary for her father, who ruled over the local tribes, alongside the never-before-told intertwined stories of Thomas Savage, Henry Spelman, and Robert Poole, young English boys who were forced to live with powerful Indian leaders to act as intermediaries.

Pocahontas and the English Boys is a riveting seventeenth-century story of intrigue and danger, knowledge and power, and four youths who lived out their lives between cultures. As Pocahontas, Thomas, Henry, and Robert collaborated and conspired in carrying messages and trying to smooth out difficulties, they never knew when they might be caught in the firing line of developing hostilities. While their knowledge and role in controlling communication gave them status and a degree of power, their relationships with both sides meant that no one trusted them completely.

Written by an expert in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Atlantic history, Pocahontas and the English Boys unearths gems from the archives--Henry Spelman's memoir, travel accounts, letters, and official reports and records of meetings of the governor and council in Virginia--and draws on recent archaeology to share the stories of the young people who were key influencers of their day and who are now set to transform our understanding of early Virginia.

Review Quotes

""A culturally resonant understanding of the early confluences in America between Indigenous peoples and Europeans...this new take on her life and times answers questions essential to our time: What is the nature of fluidity in civic culture -- what happens to us when we encounter new cultures, people, languages -- not just once but frequently? And what happens to our human condition when someone else tries to shape who we are?"--NPR.org

"A compelling narrative of cultural entanglement that challenges traditional perceptions of early Virginia. A refreshing and readable new take on an old story that should be considered an essential read for anyone striving to understand the human stories of friendship and betrayal that lie at the heart of early modern colonial encounters."--Audrey Horning, William and Mary

"An inventive and lively new account of the Powhatan peoples' encounter with the Virginia colonists. While Pocahontas has been the subject of a fair amount of scholarship, the story of the English youths who learned Algonquian languages has never been so explicitly (and fittingly) paired with hers."--Andrew Lipman, author of The Saltwater Frontier

"Based on a lifetime of study, Ms. Kupperman provides a remarkably perceptive and sympathetic portrait of five young people who, with little control over their own fate, found themselves caught up in the dangerously shifting cultural realities of early Jamestown."-- "Wall Street Journal"

"From the opening scene of young Pocahontas teaching an English boy how to live in her fathers capital city, this stunningly original book puts us in the shoes and moccasins of bilingual and bicultural adolescents and shows us a whole new world. Even if you think you know everything about colonial Virginia, you need to read this book."--Kathleen DuVal, Distinguished Professor, University of North Carolina

"In a deeply nuanced study, Kupperman deftly crafts a narrative based on her decades of study into the early Virginia colony and the Atlantic world, of the important role of captive children and the exchange of peoples in the settlement process... [She] has produced an important synthesis of this era that allows a glimpse into a terrifying aspect of the colonial era and brings to life their circumstances and hardships."--Kristalyn Shefveland, University of Southern Indiana "Journal of American Ethnic History"

"Karen Kuppermans well-researched and accessible book shows us the familiar Chesapeake story from surprisingand youthfulnew vantage points. This ingenious work by a noted scholar highlights dilemmas of cultural exchange across the Atlantic world."--Peter H. Wood, Professor Emeritus of History, Duke University

"Kupperman offers new insights through her focus on young people who moved between Algonquian and English communities and worlds. Hers is a sobering account of the costs of colonialism for Indigenous people and settlers alike, and brings to life a place a time that still has many lessons to teach us."--Coll Thrush, author of Indigenous London

"Kupperman's nuanced portrait of the English boys makes this book an excellent addition to literature on seventeenth-century Virginia. The book's unique perspective on the process of cultural negotiation, combined with its clear writing style, make it ideally suited for undergraduates."-- "Anglican And Episcopai History"

"Like all her work, Karen Kuppermans new book is as compelling as a great novel. It offers a richly detailed history of three English boys adopted into indigenous communities in early Virginia: a fascinating story of bilingual knowledge, divided loyalties, and the meaning of adolescence across cultures that reframes prior studies of Jamestown, Pocahontas, and early Virginia in significant ways."--Anna Brickhouse, University of Virginia

"Only Karen Ordahl Kupperman could have written this book. She draws on a lifetime of research to craft a human-scale story of young people caught up in events beyond their control. Pocahontas and the English Boys provides general readers with a moving introduction to the tragic history of the Jamestown colony."--Daniel K. Richter, University of Pennsylvania

"This enlightening study highlights a form of slavery that has been often overlooked in histories of colonial Virginia."-- "Library Journal"

"While the story of Jamestown itself has been told, the author manages to find a new and fascinating lens. After reading the piece, I am convinced that Thomas Savage, Henry Spelman, and Pocahontas were important cultural brokers whose lives shaped and were profoundly shaped by the English settlement of Virginia."--Jared Hardesty, author of Unfreedom