The Mayflower: The Struggle of the Pilgrims

                     Recently I read  Mayflower: A story of Courage, Community, and War by Nathaniel Philbrick for my literature circle in my history class. This book tells the story of the famous Pilgrims in the New World, however I only read two chapters of this historical novel, chapter 5 "The Heart of Winter", and chapter 6 "In a Dark and Dismal Swamp". Those two chapters basically summarize the struggles the Pilgrims went through and over came, and their treaty with the Natives who lived there before them.

           
           The author provides the reader with accurate information which is easy for most readers to understand and grasp, the topics the author mentioned were clear-cut as well as informative. These topics can be broken down by the Pilgrim's first arrival (them setting up in this new land), the harsh winter which killed many people, and their interacting and eventual treaty with the Native Americans. Some of the most interesting facts brought about in this story, were in fact at least to me, were the more dismal ones. The fact that the Pilgrims literally stepped over the bones of dead Native Americans as they were looking for a spot to settle in the New World, it's grotesque yet strangely fascinating.
       
           Overall the author's writing was what one would expect from a historical novel, clear and informative. However, the author's writing lacks a certain depth, he doesn't really express any empathy towards the Pilgrims and their dire situation. He never really much explored into the characters as much as he could've, even the most important leaders of the pilgrims were only listed once or twice and given little to no back story. It's hard to feel sympathy towards characters you've never even gotten to know, it's just like well a guy died so sad.
       
             Personally I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone looking for a story driven by innovating characters, because this book isn't it. However someone looking for a book that's more plot-driven, or someone just looking to find more information on the Pilgrim's settlement I would highly recommend this book, and anyone with the slightest interest in learning about the colonies.
       
             This book, at least to me, wasn't really that interesting to read, I never felt any strong emotion through out any of it. I feel like a good book is one which causes the reader to feel strong emotion, but to have a reader develop strong emotion you've got to have strong characters in which the reader can form some sort of attachment to. This book had many characters practically no information about them, at least not enough for the reader to develop a bond with  them. I would rate this book 2/5 stars, for it did provide thorough information about the Pilgrims, but didn't make it a good story