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A Kingdom Strange: The Brief And Tragic History Of The Lost Colony Of Roanoke (2010)

by James Horn(Favorite Author)

3.44 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

0465004857 (ISBN13: 9780465004850)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Basic Books

review 1: Theories about the fate of North Carolina's Lost Colony can be deary or fascinating. Many just dredge up old stories. This book makes a compelling case for sabotage and intrigue within Queen Elizabeth's court. Sir Walter Raleigh's political enemies may have planted a saboteur to make sure the colony did not land well and got off to a poor start. This book was well written and researched. It is in my library on NC history.
review 2: Probably one of the more approachable books on the subject of the Lost Colony. A colony doomed from the outset, not only due to the elements of the New World, but also because of the whimsical politics of England at the time. Horn does a decent job of setting the political and sociological stage of the late 16th century and the pl... moreayers involved; the relationship of Sir Walter Raleigh and Queen Elizabeth, John White and his struggle against whim and bureaucracy to put together a rescue voyage in the middle of countries at war; the war between England and Spain; Captain John Smith's claimed attempts to find out what happened to the people of Roanoke Island. Still though, despite all the claimed evidence by people like Smith (who was a notorious bragger in his memoirs), you have to wonder if some of the witness testimony claimed by Europeans are valid or just generating Tall Tales for the history books. Ultimately there is no real solid evidence (so far) of what exactly happened (Horn speculates the whole dang mystery in the last 5 or six pages), and anyone who knows the story already will not find much revelation here, although it IS a good book that puts it all in one place in an approachable narrative. A decent read, but I would really like to see a more archeological book be published on the subject, much like Dr. William Kelso's book Jamestown: the Buried Truth. less

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