A review by bibliophiliac
Making Haste from Babylon: The Mayflower Pilgrims and Their World: A New History by Nick Bunker

5.0

I had read American historian Nathaniel Philbrick's excellent book, Mayflower, about ten years ago. That book centered largely on the already arrived Pilgrims and was set largely during King Phillip's War (1675-1676). English journalist Nick Bunker's also excellent account of the Mayflower Pilgrims begins before they set sail for the New World, and gives us a rich glimpse of the lives of the men and women who made that fateful voyage. Details of these Separatists' lives were taken from church and church records in England. The book is long and meanders at times, but it gave me some new insights into the motivations of the travelers. From this account, I learned that the Pilgrim's goal was more than just religious freedom. Separatism, according to Bunker, was Christianity blended with ideas about gentility and good government, and seasoned with Greek and Roman ideals of republican virtue. Their decision to flee England had both religious and economic inducements, and the sailing of the Mayflower was also a business venture whose backers were looking to make a financial killing. This history adds some new dimension to the story of America.