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Reviewed by:
  • Jamestown, 1607
  • Elizabeth Bush
Cooper, Michael L. Jamestown, 1607. Holiday House, 2007 [112p] illus. with photographs ISBN 0-8234-1948-7$18.95 Reviewed from galleys M Gr. 5-9

Relying largely on the primary source accounts of colonists John Smith, George Percy, and Gabriel Archer, Cooper retells the story of the founding of the English settlement at Jamestown, the troubled relationship between the Englishmen and the Powhatan people who inhabited the region, and the devastation wrought by hostilities and famine among the first arrivals and those who followed close on their heels. Laudable though the use of primary materials may be, Cooper offers readers little guidance concerning their interpretation, complacently allowing them to take Smith's view of events for granted with no consideration of his probable biases. Although a concluding essay on the sources observes, "The biggest gap is the lack of information from the Native Americans. Everything known about Powhatan's people comes from Europeans who knew little about their language or culture," Cooper does not consult recent scholarship from excavations at and around the fort for newer ideas, however tentative, on Anglo/Indian relations. Even the extensive gallery of historical engravings (no photographs of the current site, or even imaginative reconstructions, are included) reinforces an underexamined Anglo-American take on colonization. Source notes, lists for further reading, and an index will serve middle-school researchers, but it would be wise to encourage them to take a look at Lange's 1607: A New Look at Jamestown (BCCB 3/07) to update and balance their reports.

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