Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War by Nathaniel Philbrick
We’re starting the list with the very first Thanksgiving: best-selling author and National Book Award winner Nathaniel Philbrick’s historical ode to the Pilgrims’ journey and perilous start in the New World. Expect to see familiar names – Miles Standish, William Bradford, Massasoit – come to life in ways you never imagined in grade school. In a starred review, Publishers Weekly writes: “Philbrick’s account brings the Plymouth Colony and its leaders, including William Bradford, Benjamin Church and the bellicose, dwarfish Miles Standish, vividly to life. More importantly, he brings into focus a gruesome period in early American history.”