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A voyage long and strange
First published 2008 · 464 pages
A witty, boots-on-the-ground road trip through the forgotten, messy, and often absurd century of American history before the Pilgrims arrived.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like taking a cross-country road trip with your favorite, most entertaining history professor. It blends the breezy, propulsive momentum of a travelogue with the fascinating depth of narrative nonfiction, moving at a brisk pace as it jumps between centuries and landscapes. The tone is wry and inquisitive, stripping away the sanitized myths of early American history to reveal the bizarre, messy, and often brutal realities of first contact. You are immersed in a mood of adventurous curiosity, laughing at the absurdities of modern historical reenactments while grappling with the darker legacies of conquest. It is an absolute delight for fans of Bill Bryson and Sarah Vowell who want their historical blind spots illuminated with humor, empathy, and a healthy dose of skepticism.
- Mood
- adventurous
- curious
- breezy
- reflective
- Tone
- wry
- inquisitive
- conversational
- irreverent
- thoughtful
- Pace
- brisk
- Themes
- historical amnesia · myth versus reality · cultural collision · the absurdity of exploration · modern echoes of the past
- The writing
- Witty and accessible, seamlessly weaving rigorous historical research with entertaining, boots-on-the-ground travel journalism.
- The arc
- Moves from lighthearted curiosity to a deeper, more sobering appreciation of the messy, often brutal realities of early American history.
- Who it's for
- Readers who love their history served with a side of road-trip adventure, wry humor, and a healthy skepticism of textbook myths.
Content notes
- colonial violence
- historical racism
- discussion of epidemics
About the book
The bestselling author of Blue Latitudes takes us on a thrilling and eye-opening voyage to pre-Mayflower America
On a chance visit to Plymouth Rock, Tony Horwitz realizes he’s mislaid more than a century of American history, from Columbus’s sail in 1492 to Jamestown’s founding in 16-oh-something. Did nothing happen in between? Determined to find out, he embarks on a journey of rediscovery, following in the footsteps of the many Europeans who preceded the Pilgrims to America.
An irresistible blend of history, myth, and misadventure, A Voyage Long and Strange captures the wonder and drama of first contact. Vikings, conquistadors, French voyageurs—these and many others roamed an unknown continent in quest of grapes, gold, converts, even a cure for syphilis. Though most failed, their remarkable exploits left an enduring mark on the land and people encountered by late-arriving English settlers.
Tracing this legacy with his own epic trek—from Florida’s Fountain of Youth to Plymouth’s sacred Rock, from desert pueblos to subarctic sweat lodges—Tony Horwitz explores the revealing gap between what we enshrine and what we forget. Displaying his trademark talent for humor, narrative, and historical insight, A Voyage Long and Strange allows us to rediscover the New World for ourselves.
Description from Open Library.
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