A Stranger Among Saints: Stephen Hopkins, the Man Who Survived Jamestown and Saved Plymouth
Sometime between 1610 and 1611, William Shakespeare wrote The Tempest. The idea for the play came from the real-life shipwreck in 1609 of the Sea Venture, which was caught in a hurricane and grounded on the coast of Bermuda during a voyage to resupply England's troubled colony at Jamestown, in present-day Virginia.



A lesser known passenger was Stephen Hopkins. During the ten months the Sea Venture passengers were marooned on Bermuda, Hopkins was charged with trying to incite a mutiny and condemned to die, only to have his sentence commuted moments before it was to be carried out. In 1620, Hopkins signed on to another colonial venture, joining a group of religious radicals on the Mayflower.



The Pilgrims encountered their own tempest, a furor that started when they anchored off Cape Cod and lasted for their first twelve months in the New World. Disease and sickness stole nearly half their number, and their first contacts with the indigenous Americans were contentious. The entire enterprise hung in the balance, and it was during these trials that Hopkins became one of the expedition's leaders, playing a vital role in bridging the divide of suspicion between the English immigrants and their native neighbors.
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A Stranger Among Saints: Stephen Hopkins, the Man Who Survived Jamestown and Saved Plymouth
Sometime between 1610 and 1611, William Shakespeare wrote The Tempest. The idea for the play came from the real-life shipwreck in 1609 of the Sea Venture, which was caught in a hurricane and grounded on the coast of Bermuda during a voyage to resupply England's troubled colony at Jamestown, in present-day Virginia.



A lesser known passenger was Stephen Hopkins. During the ten months the Sea Venture passengers were marooned on Bermuda, Hopkins was charged with trying to incite a mutiny and condemned to die, only to have his sentence commuted moments before it was to be carried out. In 1620, Hopkins signed on to another colonial venture, joining a group of religious radicals on the Mayflower.



The Pilgrims encountered their own tempest, a furor that started when they anchored off Cape Cod and lasted for their first twelve months in the New World. Disease and sickness stole nearly half their number, and their first contacts with the indigenous Americans were contentious. The entire enterprise hung in the balance, and it was during these trials that Hopkins became one of the expedition's leaders, playing a vital role in bridging the divide of suspicion between the English immigrants and their native neighbors.
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A Stranger Among Saints: Stephen Hopkins, the Man Who Survived Jamestown and Saved Plymouth

A Stranger Among Saints: Stephen Hopkins, the Man Who Survived Jamestown and Saved Plymouth

by Jonathan Mack

Narrated by Walter Dixon

Unabridged — 9 hours, 16 minutes

A Stranger Among Saints: Stephen Hopkins, the Man Who Survived Jamestown and Saved Plymouth

A Stranger Among Saints: Stephen Hopkins, the Man Who Survived Jamestown and Saved Plymouth

by Jonathan Mack

Narrated by Walter Dixon

Unabridged — 9 hours, 16 minutes

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Overview

Sometime between 1610 and 1611, William Shakespeare wrote The Tempest. The idea for the play came from the real-life shipwreck in 1609 of the Sea Venture, which was caught in a hurricane and grounded on the coast of Bermuda during a voyage to resupply England's troubled colony at Jamestown, in present-day Virginia.



A lesser known passenger was Stephen Hopkins. During the ten months the Sea Venture passengers were marooned on Bermuda, Hopkins was charged with trying to incite a mutiny and condemned to die, only to have his sentence commuted moments before it was to be carried out. In 1620, Hopkins signed on to another colonial venture, joining a group of religious radicals on the Mayflower.



The Pilgrims encountered their own tempest, a furor that started when they anchored off Cape Cod and lasted for their first twelve months in the New World. Disease and sickness stole nearly half their number, and their first contacts with the indigenous Americans were contentious. The entire enterprise hung in the balance, and it was during these trials that Hopkins became one of the expedition's leaders, playing a vital role in bridging the divide of suspicion between the English immigrants and their native neighbors.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

“Jonathan Mack has written an unforgettable story of Stephen Hopkins and how his indenture of seven years at Jamestown later helped in the settlement of Plymouth Colony. Bit by bit, Mack extracts from early extant writings an intimate and insightful account of Stephen Hopkins of the Mayflower. Mack tells of Hopkins’s critical role as liaison between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag tribe with new insight and intimate detail. If you think you knew the story but wish for more, this deeper understanding of Hopkins and his service in the founding of Plymouth Colony will delight you.” —Linda Longley, Historian, California Mayflower Society


“We didn’t know enough about Stephen Hopkins, whose enterprising spirit and rapport with Native Americans contributed to the nation’s founding. Mack fills the gap with tireless research and storytelling skills, bringing a complex historical figure to life.” —Amy Finnerty, Culture Writer and Editor


"An absorbing, perceptive biography...Deftly crafted history illuminates the nation's earliest days." Kirkus Reviews

Kirkus Reviews

2019-12-29
How a little-known member of the Plymouth settlement made a significant impact on its success.

Attorney Mack, a member of the General Society of Mayflower Descendants, makes his book debut with an absorbing, perceptive biography of Stephen Hopkins (1581-1644), who made two voyages from England to the New World. As the author argues convincingly, he proved to be "a key figure in the Pilgrims' struggles and triumphs." Hopkins sailed first to Jamestown in 1609, remaining there for a few years. In 1620, he joined the passengers of the Mayflower: the Saints, bound by religious covenant, and the dissident Strangers, Hopkins among them. Because he left no diary or journal, Hopkins has been neglected by historians, overshadowed by his contemporaries Myles Standish and William Bradford. But Mack makes judicious use of evidence to create a nuanced portrait of a complex man—independent, intelligent, "stubborn when he felt wronged"—who took an influential role, bringing to decisions wisdom gleaned from his earlier experiences. Those experiences were dire: Shipwrecked off the coast of Bermuda in 1609, Hopkins became mired in scandal, accused of mutiny, and sentenced to death. He escaped to Jamestown, where he found himself "on the doorstep of hell": The town was in ruins, the population decimated by starvation, and relationships with Native peoples were tense. The author creates a visceral sense of the hardship of settlement and of trans-Atlantic crossing, when ships were at the mercy of doldrums or tempests. "The wooden ship groaned and creaked," he writes, and in the dark living area, "the smells of 150 unwashed people and rotting food intensified." Many died during the voyage. The survivors, their food stores perilously diminished, landed on cold, inhospitable terrain, and attack by Indigenous tribes seemed probable. Because he had advocated for diplomacy with Natives in Jamestown—where he had met Pocahontas—Hopkins, "a cool thinker," pressed for conciliation and peace. His success in developing rapport and forging bonds between Pilgrims and Natives opened "the door to the prospect of prosperity that came with peace."

Deftly crafted history illuminates the nation's earliest days.

Product Details

BN ID: 2940177638942
Publisher: Tantor Audio
Publication date: 04/07/2020
Edition description: Unabridged
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