Description
Book SynopsisBernhard links Virginia and Bermuda in a series of unintended consequences resulting from natural disaster, ignorance of native cultures, diplomatic intrigues, and the fateful arrival of the first Africans in both colonies. Written for general as well as academic audiences.
Trade ReviewIf her title invokes Charles Dickens's
A Tale of Two Cities (1859), the allusion is apt. She links the two colonies in a tale of death and resurrection and compares them, often highlighting Virginia's greater struggles."" -
The Journal of Southern History""Drawing on new research and her own extensive knowledge of early Virginia and Bermuda, Virginia Bernhard elucidates the colonies' interwoven histories. Along the way, she solves many of the conundrums that have long perplexed scholars and general readers. This is a rich, lively, and reliable narrative and an important contribution to Atlantic studies."" - Alden T. Vaughan, author of
Transatlantic Encounters: American Indians in Britain, 1500–1776""Virginia Bernhard, who has previously published an outstanding book about slavery on Bermuda, offers the reader a gripping story. She relates the fascinating tale of these two critical locales in England's early efforts to build a successful colonial empire. I found myself eagerly turning the pages, particularly because she skillfully guides the reader back and forth between the two colonies, revealing how so many of the people involved were instrumental to both settlements. Her portrayal of the intrigue, the rapid development of factional disputes on both Bermuda and at Jamestown, is well done. The focus is properly on the personalities and how individual decisions made a significant difference."" - Larry Gragg, author of
The Quaker Community on Barbados: Challenging the Culture of the Planter Class""Many in Bermuda and Virginia, the sites of England's first and second colonies in what became the vast British Empire, and beyond will welcome the appearance of
A Tale of Two Colonies. The interaction of the settlers on the edge of a vast continent and in a remote, uninhabited island is a fascinating story that Professor Bernhard, with her long experience of both places and their records, has rendered in delightful and highly readable volume."" - Edward Harris, MBE, National Museum of Bermuda
