A Voyage Long and Strange: Rediscovering the New World | 
 enlarge | Author: Tony Horwitz
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
Category: Book
List Price: $27.50
Buy New: $13.25
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Avg. Customer Rating:  25 reviews
Sales Rank: 551
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 464
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.6
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.5
ISBN: 0805076034
Dewey Decimal Number: 970.01
EAN: 9780805076035
ASIN: 0805076034
Publication Date: April 29, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: BRAND NEW, IN-HOUSE READY TO SHIP!!! NOT A BARGAIN, REMAINDER OR BOOKCLUB BOOK!!! WE ARE A 5 STAR SELLER.
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Product Description
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.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 20 more reviews...
 The real American history July 1, 2008
Horwitz spends three years traveling to the sites of early explorers and settlers who were in the Americas 100 years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. Plymouth Rock or PR was long considered the birthplace of America, Horwitz shows that other places, especially Florida, can easily claim the title.
 Excellent history - Excellent Read June 27, 2008
Tony Horwitz asks the very simple question - "What happened in North America between Columbus and the Pilgrims?" - a 128 year interlude that seems strangely ignored - and then searches out the answer. Along the way he also searches out where, why, and by whom it is still remembered. A very funny book as a bit of travel writing (think Bill Bryson) and slice of present day Americana, and a very solid primer on the explorations and settlement of North America before the Pilgrims came and claimed to be the first.
It's not quite as good as Horwitz's book "Confederates in the Attic" - but that book sets a very high bar indeed. (If you've never read it, read that one first.) But a solid and enjoyable effort all around.
 Not in my library June 26, 2008
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
The serious weakness in the book is first suggested in the grossly inaccurate colored map on the inside cover of the book. The map and text show Cabeza de Vaca's route as beginning in Texas (rather than Florida)and running through central Texas (rather than norther Mexico). Cabeza de Vaca's route has been extensively covered by well documented historical and archeological studies over the past thirty years with no one faintly suggesting the route identified by the author's map and narrative. The same comment is made regarding the map and narrative regarding the route of De Soto who spent more time west of the Mississippi than he spent east of the river, including the extensive one-year journey to the southwest to try to march overland to Mexico.I understand the interest in making the story and voyage long and strange, but this could have been accomplished within the context of well established academic studies that abound.
great light and at times funny look at "real" history of the U.S June 20, 2008
This book offers a look at what really took place from the Vikings to the Mayflower.
At times serious and other time humorous. well done and easy and too fast reading.
Great read, well written June 15, 2008
I greatly enjoyed this book. While being scholarly sound, it is easy reading. It is the kind of book a teacher of history should embrace.
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