Philbrick will speak on his book, cited by The New York Times Book Review as one of “The 10 Best Books of 2006.” The Times comment said, “This absorbing history of the Plymouth Colony is a model of revisionism. Philbrick impressively recreates the Pilgrims' dismal 1620 voyage, bringing to life passengers and crew, and then relates the events of the settlement and its first contacts with the native inhabitants of Massachusetts.”
The reviewer at Publisher's Weekly wrote, “Impeccably researched and expertly rendered, Philbrick's account brings the Plymouth Colony and its leaders...vividly to life....For Philbrick, this is yet another award-worthy story of survival.”
Philbrick also was a consultant for the production of “Desperate Crossing: the Untold Story of the Mayflower” for the History Channel and appeared several times as a commentator.
Philbrick wrote in the book's preface, “...I have since discovered the story of the Pilgrims does not end with the First Thanksgiving. When we look to how the Pilgrims and their children maintained more than 50 years of peace with the Wampanoags and how that peace suddenly erupted into one of the deadliest wars ever fought on American soil, the history of Plymouth Colony becomes something altogether new, rich, troubling and complex. Instead of the story we already know, it becomes the story we need to know.”
Philbrick is the author of many award-winning books, including Sea of Glory and In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex, which won the 2000 National Book Award for Nonfiction.
The cost of the dinner is $85 for members and $110 for guests. Corporate tables of eight persons are available for $1,000. Reservations are requested by Thursday, April 26. For more information or to request an invitation, send e-mail with full name and mailing address to [UDLA@udel.edu] or call the Office of the Director of Libraries at (302) 831-2231.
