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In the author's defense, genocide doesn't lend itself to amusing quips. A VOYAGE LONG AND STRANGE is Tony Horwitz's latest in his series of books that combine the history of a place with the author's often droll and insightful observations upon visiting those places today. The history of these expeditions, from Leif Erikson's probable arrival at the northern tip of Newfoundland in the early 11th century to John Smith's voyages from the mid-Atlantic up through New England (which he named) in the early 17th, is relatively little known by most Americans. There are times when the history overwhelms a bit, and Horwitz's travel commentary drags. Mayer, whose voice, a cross between Rod Serling and Robert Forster, isn't well suited to this material. A substantial part of this story concerns the Spanish expeditions of discovery, from the epic story of Christopher Columbus to the far less known tales of conquistadors like Francisco Vazquez de Coronado and Hernando de Soto who trekked deep into what is now the area of the southwestern and southeastern United States respectively.
Horwitz makes you see America's period of discovery in a way you probably haven't seen it before, with the legends stripped away.The ultimate point of A VOYAGE LONG AND STRANGE is that it's the myths that capture Americans' imagination: we love the stories of the affair between John Smith and Pocahontas and of the First Thanksgiving even if they didn't really happen, or happen the way we think. (CONFEDERATES IN THE ATTIC is perhaps the best of these).This book takes up the series of voyages to North America leading to the arrival of the Mayflower in 1620. Still, this book is worth the effort. (De Soto traveled as far as the Mississippi). Horwitz gives credit to these explorers for overcoming great odds in making these journeys--for instance, as the author points out, the heavy armor worn by the Spanish, while defending themselves against Indian arrows, must have made mobility difficult, though obviously not impossible--while at the same time driving home the point that the native peoples they encountered by and large were devastated by the contact.A VOYAGE LONG AND STRANGE is not quite as swift a ride as Horwitz's earlier outings. In this way, we are not very different from the European explorers of America, who were motivated by fables of gold and wealth that did not exist--yet before their eyes lay the riches of America's natural resources.(I recommend reading this book in hard copy over the unabridged audio version by John H.
Tony Horwitz himself provides the audio for the abridged version; I recommend that if you need this book in audiobook format).
and Haiti) in 1492 and the Pilgrims landing in 1620 was basically a complete blank. For people like me who spend our days continually amazed at our sheer ignorance, Horowitz's new book is perfect. Horowitz seeks to fill that gap in his knowledge (and my own), by tracing the routes and landing spots of the early Viking, Spanish, and French explorers and colonizers. My major in college was history, U.S. history, but the time between Columbus washing up in Hispaniola (todays D.R. Historical travel writing at its best, filled with weirdo American's and laid-back Domican's, A Voyage Long and Strange is one worthwhile journey. Grade: A-
A lot of it comes across as fill.That said, it Horowitz is an entertaining writer. I was a huge fan of Confederates in the Attic. His style of bouncing from past to present is a creative way to keep the story and history come alive and seem relevant. This book isn't as deep. At times it feels like he is trying to stretch the subject matter of a 250 page book into almost 400. This book will be enjoyed by anyone who has a sense of adventure and wanderlust, as many of the tales he writes about (the Vikings and Conquistadors) are fascinating and stand on their own.
As with his previous books, Horwitz sets off to travel the routes of the explorers that he studies. I never knew that the French had a presence in Florida. This former history major realized that what he didn't know about American's early explorers was a "chasm." He discovers that he "mislaid an entire century, the one separating Columbus's sail in 1492 from Jamestown's founding in 10-0-something." This story actually ends at Plymouth Rock, rather than begins. In this case, he follows in the steps of America's early explorers.While vacationing in New England, Horwitz visits Plymouth Rock (more like Plymouth Pebble, he laments). I have been a long-time fan of Tony Horwitz, and always look forward to his historic-based, quirky and entertaining books. After reading David Hackett Fischer's wonderful new book, Champlain's Dream, I think that Champlain's absence makes the story less rich and cost him half a star in my rating. I certainly didn't remember that Coronado traveled as far as Kansas from Mexico, or that DeSoto reached the Mississippi River from Florida. So why is Plymouth a "rock star for tourists." "Anglo bias seemed the obvious culprit, but it didn't altogether explain Americans' amnesia." Like Horwitz, there was much that I didn't remember about early American history as well.
In discussing our national celebration of Thanksgiving, Horwitz writes "FDR moved Thanksgiving ahead a week, to lengthen the Christmas shopping season. Then he switches to Columbus, Coronado, DeSoto and other Spanish explorers. A Journey Long and Strange: Rediscovering the New World follows his usual formula in traveling in the steps of history. But Horwitz is known for presenting these facts with various anecdotes that are funny, ironic, thought-provoking or in some cases, tragic. He begins with the Vikings. It wasn't until the French made their appearance on American soil that the English finally arrived. And there it has remained, a day of national gluttony, retail pageantry, TV football, and remembrance of the Pilgrims, a folk so austere that they regarded Christmas as a corrupt Papist holiday."The one major omission (Horwitz admits as much) in A Journey Long and Strange is that the famous French explorer, Samuel Champlain, gets nary a mention. But overall, Horwitz sums things up in a way you won't find in most history books: "The country's European founding was slow and messy: a primordial slime of false starts and mutations that evolved, over generations, into English colonies and the United States."
Tony Horwitz does the leg work for us. Read and discover some of the history you were never taught in school. Add some zing to your home library, read Horwitz.
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