1607 A new look at Jamestown

Just in time for the 400th anniversary of the Jamestown settlement, this well-illustrated volume presents information based on recent archaeology at the site of the original fort. Lange clearly describes conditions in early Jamestown and tells how the recent excavations and other research have shifted historians' perceptions of the colony. She also discusses the Indians who lived in the area before the English settlement began and shows how their views of the settlers changed over the years. The excellent color photos feature interpreters dressed as colonists and Indians in reconstructions of their communities as well as artifacts found at the site of the fort. In conclusion, Lange tackles some controversy, noting the story of Jamestown is not a comforting one: Indians see nothing to celebrate in the 400th year commemoration. Jamestown has long been overshadowed by Plymouth in America's mythology, but this forthright narrative is a very good place to start learning its significant story. A chronology, source notes, and lists of books and Web sites are appended. --Carolyn Phelan Copyright 2006 Booklist

Gr 3-6-In 1994, scientists unearthed important new evidence about the original Jamestown fort. The work is ongoing and has changed many established ideas about the early settlers. 1607 incorporates these findings and offers a fascinating look at archaeology in action. Color photographs of costumed interpreters and re-created buildings from the Jamestown Settlement living-history museum depict both English and Native American ways of life. Varying perspectives of the period are represented, including evidence that suggests that Native women married English settlers and lived at the fort; how the arrival of English women changed the dynamics of the settlement; and the importance of indentured servants versus the relatively small presence of African slaves. Attractive, engaging, and informative, this title should be in every collection.-Lucinda Snyder Whitehurst, St. Christopher's School, Richmond, VA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Lange uses recent research, including findings at the archeological project called Jamestown Rediscovery, to argue that disease and drought were a large part of the community's collapse, and that the new arrivals and native populations weren't as consistently at odds as is usually supposed. This in contrast to the conventional view, expressed most recently in Susan and William H. Harkins's Jamestown, the First English Colony (2006), that the 400-year-old settlement's early troubles (in the first 25 years, fully two-thirds of its residents died) were caused by the colonists' general ineptitude and lack of preparation. Illustrated with color photos of artifacts and of costumed re-enactors, this broad overview of the colony's first few decades--in particular its relationship with indigenous groups--makes a valuable lead-in to the likes of Sandy Pobst's more detail-oriented Virginia, 1607-1776 (2005). (multimedia resource lists) (Nonfiction. 10-13) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.