A GREAT AND GODLY ADVENTURE The Pilgrims and the Myth of the First Thanksgiving GODFREY HODGSON

"Sometimes Americans need a sympathetic foreigner, such as Hodgson, to remind them of the dignity of what they are doing, on this day, and all others."
--George F. Will, Washington Post

"Turkey, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, family, friends and televised pro-football watched from the living room couch. Thanksgiving, the late November holiday that traces its roots to the 17th century Pilgrims of Massachusetts, has long been a national celebration of home, harmony and the things we hold dear. But as Godfrey Hodgson shows in A Great and Godly Adventure, his historical account of the first Thanksgiving, much of what we take for granted about Thanksgiving is simply "the invention of tradition," events we'd like to believe are true but simply aren't… Those looking for an excellent treatment of the "real" story of Thanksgiving will learn a great deal from Hodgson."
--San Francisco Chronicle

"Want a serving of reality with your Thanksgiving meal? Godfrey Hodgson has one for you, and it may upset everything you ever thought you knew about the origins of our national feast day."
--Hartford Courant

"One of the joys of A Great and Godly Adventure is the thorough way in which Hodgson makes his point about the myths surrounding Thanksgiving and the uses to which the holiday has been put… A fascinating point he tries to make, successfully, I think, is that Americans of all faiths and nationalities have come to cherish the holiday."
--Providence Journal

"Offers a provocative discussion of the evolution of the Thanksgiving holiday... showing how it was later exploited for religious, political and commercial purposes. Hodgson's meticulous research provides compelling new insights into the Pilgrims' daily lives and their hostile and eventually violent interactions with the Wampanoags and other Native Americans. Both similar in scope and style to Nathaniel Philbrick's equally masterly ‘The Mayflower,' Hodgson's work is much more concise...."
--Library Journal

"[Hodgson] has… done valuable work drawing on historians' research about the original New England settlements….Hodgson reminds us of our tendency to interpret and understand the past through the lens of the present… The Pilgrims afforded later Americans examples of bravery in the face of adversity. These first Americans are worth remembering and honoring, and Hodgson gives them their due."
--Bookpage

"In this enjoyable book Hodgson shows how Thanksgiving has evolved from a noisy public festival into a more private, domestic affair."
—The Guardian

"Hodgson, though a Brit himself, recognizes a special quality about the getting-home-to-share-a-ritual-meal aspect of Thanksgiving. Along with the worthwhile history he provides are comments on art, literature and the mythology itself, by which he explores the spiritual nature of the holiday."
-Norfolk Virginian-Pilot