Nathaniel Philbrick wants to introduce you to a new way of thinking about the Pilgrims. Yes, those lovable folks who rode on a ship looking for the New World, founded the city of Patuxet (now Plymouth) near Cape Cod, and ate a meal with the Natives we commemorate every Thanksgiving. In his newest book Mayflower, Philbrick retells the story of these people, focusing on one element that most historians fail to mention. Less than sixty years after arriving, the Pilgrims were involved in one of the costliest wars in US history—because two groups of people couldn’t get along.

From the beginning, the Pilgrims wanted religious freedom. They would get it, but it would cost them much heartache and sorrow. Their first winter in Patuxet found them attempting to ward off disease and death while keeping the Natives at bay. Thanks to a treaty with Massasoit, the Pohonaket leader (or sachem), the two sides enjoyed good relations—for a while, at least.

Time and again, there would be events that would threaten to destroy the fragile balance and cause outright war. There were Native plots to attack Patuxet. There were Pilgrim attacks on Native sachems. As other English settlements were created, some Natives attempted to use coercion and influence to gain power. Land deals left the Natives with little to call their own. Food ran scarce for both groups, while rumors swirled in the cold New England winds. 

Take the strained relationships that were always present between the two groups, mix in a misunderstanding, and there was the possibility for something bad to occur. And it did—in the form of King Philip’s War, named not after a king, but for Philip, Massasoit’s son. 

Each main character has a distinct personality in Mayflower. Philbrick allows each person’s traits to be displayed through his writing. He succeeds quite admirably at keeping the depictions as bias-free as possible. Miles Standish, for example, is portrayed as a warrior determined to do what is in the best interests of his people. He also is noted in the book for an attack on some Natives at the village of Wessagussett that had, “at least temporarily, ruined [the Pilgrim’s] ability to trade” (p. 155). Philbrick’s effective use of sources (he lists 80 pages of them) allows for a type of characterization that delves beyond the traditions we’ve grown up with.

Yet Mayflower is, at its essence, more than a history book; it is a story about people and their relations with each other. Relationships are difficult to cultivate when fear and hearsay dominate. This was the case between the Pilgrims and the Pokanoket tribe at first. But when the two groups finally got together, a peace treaty was negotiated. In the end, it took one man who had bridged the gap between Native and settler to oversee the war’s final outcome and leave a lasting legacy.

Like the Pilgrims, we long to have peace in our lives, but sometimes we aren’t willing to do what’s necessary for reconciliation to occur. Running away doesn’t solve the problem, nor does acting like it doesn’t exist. Considering that God is the author of reconciliation, it’s always at least worth a try.

In the aftermath of the conflict, both Native and settler alike were left with grim reminders of why it is advisable to live at peace with each other. Both the lessons and the warnings of history, powerfully retold in Mayflower, will impact everyone who reads this wonderful book.