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| A Voyage Long and Strange: Rediscovering the New World | 
 enlarge | Author: Tony Horwitz
Publisher: John Murray
Category: Book
This item is no longer available
Avg. Customer Rating:  41 reviews
Format: Import
Media: Paperback
Pages: 464
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
ISBN: 0719566363
EAN: 9780719566363
ASIN: 0719566363
Publication Date: April 2, 2009 (In 118 Days)
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| Customer Reviews:
 Long, Strange, and a Ball of Laughs May 10, 2008
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
Who could have guessed that history (and current events) could be so much fun. Horwitz, whose previous triumphs have included books about Civil War reenactments, travels in the Middle East, and a retracing of Captain Cook's voyages in the South Pacific, turns his gimlet eye on the first European forays into the New World. "Washing up" in Plymouth, Massachusetts one day on a New England road trip, he buys a beer at the Myles Standish Liquor store, beds down at the William Bradford inn, and then mocks (in his mind) the clueless tourists at Plymouth Rock. But as he mulls over his experience, he realizes how little (even as a history major) he knows about the origins of the land that became America. The rest, as they say, is history, and history of a most witty and enlightening kind. Who knew, for instance, that Juan Ponce de Leon came to Florida looking for gold and slaves like everyone else, and not for the Fountain of Youth? or that the man for whom the DeSoto touring car was named was a butcher of unequaled savagery? The first feast in the New World that might appropriately be called Thanksgiving took place in St. Augustine and probably consisted of a stew of salt pork and garbanzo beans. (And there is some contention between Floridians and "the powdered wig" states over who should get credit for the national holiday.) A Voyage Long and Strange is a ball of laughs and a veil of tears--the offhand executions of women and children play out in the same text as deliberations upon whether moose is kosher and whether one should ride the "Trolley of the Doomed" in St. Tourist Trap, Florida. Horwitz goofs some stuff up--he thinks Mormons believe themselves to be descendants of the Nephites--but on the whole this is a fascinating, impossible-to-put-down look at where we came from and what we have become.
Excellent Historical Travel Logue: Re-Eploring America First Hand May 12, 2008
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
Another interesting book historical travelogue by Horwitz as he looks and resteps the paths of the early explorers and settlers of America and looks at what the sites are like today. Horwitz's starts each subject with readable, well researched historical summaries as he personally visits the sites and attempts to accurately follow their trail in the present day world and while trying to solve the mysteries along the way. What is unique about Horwitz is that he interviews local historians, park rangers, qualified historians and authorities on the subject including the local folk who have their own insight and opinions, adding the local flavor. That's the attraction of Horwitz's style, he gives you the interesting history and its controversies with a touch of humor as he also meets some interesting characters while running into some unique situations. And he dosen't just see the easy tourist stop such as when he went looking for the remains of an Indian village he unexpectedly ends up in a swamp, requiring a hasty retreat. He gets the real history and quite often the local legends are challenged, most aggressively in historical St. Augustine where the alleged fountain of youth is peddled right next to authentic historical sites. The author starts with an initially under whelmed visit to Plymouth Rock that has been suggested as the historical start of America but he then follows the first paths of all the known first Europeans to make it to American from the Vikings in Newfoundland, Columbus, Conquistadors (from Cortez, Desoto to Ponce de Leon), the French in Florida, the Spanish in St. Augustine, the late coming English in Roanoke Island, Jamestown and Plymouth Rock returning again where his travels started. Following the conquistadors seems the most trying aside the Columbus and the heat in the Caribbean, but you will find Horwitz's travels quite interesting particularly if you not only enjoy history but also actually standing on sites of historical significance, regardless what urban development has done in the present. Fortunately, much of the country that Horwitz encounters is either remote or reasonably protected. I particularly enjoyed reading of the extended travels of Desoto who continued to chase the dream of gold that he could never find, for four years! Exploring endless unknown interior of America while his troop strength eroded and his forcefulness with the Native Americans became weaker and more aggressively challenged until he becomes the victim. Horwitz provides appropriate attention to the most depressing aspect of American history, the harsh treatment of Native Americans that seems most severe by the Conquistadors but it reoccurs with the English settlers as well. The exposure of the white man's diseases to the natives and its devastating impact is astonishing virtually eliminating complete tribes literally easing the Pilgrim's ability to settle in pre-cleared Indian lands. The failed Roanoke colony's abandonment is fascinating as always but many other early soldiers, slaves, hunter and etc. were left behind with no knowledge of what happened to them as well and the author tells you about them. Aside from the history summarized or seen first hand, Horwitz provides nicely detailed descriptions of the towns and people he meets, the various places he stays, that obviously vary in quality, even a sweat lodge in Newfoundland that almost does him in. Entertaining and quite frequently Horwitz's rye sense of humor and observations give you a chuckle. In closing, his references are nicely detailed so if a subject fascinates you, you have the resource to read more. With his references, I found an excellent book, the right book, on Desoto's relentess and devastating exploration.
Another winner from Tony Horwitz May 16, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I have been waiting for this book and I wasn't disappointed. Tony Horwitz has an uncanny ability to make history fun! I plan on sending this book to friends and family who still believe the many myths of history. Keep up the good work, Tony!
 Same old story. June 3, 2008
4 out of 53 found this review helpful
This book tells the same old tale of Spanish,exploration and conquest of
the Americas,in this case North America.The Spanish arrived,on U.S. shores and the native peoples,basically gave their food,land,woman oh forgot their souls to the Spanish at all cost to the detriment of their own self preservation.Nonsense!!!! or should I say commonsense!!!!
One day the true story of a diverse explanation and experiences of both sides of the isle,will be told.The Spanish explores,looking for opportunity and adventure.Native people,intrigued and aware of the danger dealing with forighners on their soil.
In my opinion,the author streches out facts and adds his on spin to a complex story.Where the author got his facts? no clue.
This book will become a book,you leave in the cellar for dust to collect, if it is that lucky, or stuck in a wharehouse do to notackers,waiting to be used as kiddling out on the reservation.
Lively Interpretation June 5, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Tony Horwitz has hoisted the sails full mast in this very readable and investigative work on rediscovering America's beginnings.
For generations many of us have been duped into believing that Columbus discovered America and the Pilgrims were the first to settle this land. So, what did actually happen before Plymouth in 1620?
The author painstakingly traveled thousands of miles in the footsteps of the Vikings (circa 1000AD), Columbus (1492), the early Spanish conquistadors Ponce de Leon, de Vaca, de Soto and Coronado (1513-1542), the unsuccessful attempt of Fort Caroline by the French during the 1560's which lead to the eventual founding of America's oldest settlement St. Augustine by the Spanish, the failed English colony at Roanoke during the 1580's and culminating with Jamestown (1607) and Plymouth (1620).
What makes this approach to history a fun read is Horowitz' interviews with the hundreds of local people from the Northeast, to the Southeast, to the Southwestern areas of the United States. People certainly have their own opinions about their immediate environs and it shines through.
As stated in the final pages...oftentimes myth trumps fact in history. Embellishment and fabrication make for an intriguing story to fit one's own views.
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