Description
Book SynopsisMaligned for centuries as a fictional tale, David Ingram's survival of a shipwreck in the Gulf of Mexico and journey north through the American continent is here convincingly proven to be both remarkable and true.
Trade ReviewA highly informative and smooth combination of biography and colonialism history, Snow's book both shines new light on a four-century-old discussion over Ingram's credibility and provides a much-needed new perspective to studying the Age of Discovery. * World History Encyclopedia *
The Elizabethan traveler David Ingram claimed to have walked from the Gulf of Mexico to coastal Canada, a journey that many over time have questioned. Here the renowned archaeologist Dean Snow, through an act of masterful archival sleuthing, has put his journey, which encompassed participation in the slave trade and early ethnographic observations, into a rich and memorable context. * Peter C. Mancall, author of The Trials of Thomas Morton *
In this deftly argued and elegantly written investigation into the travels and travails of David Ingram, Dean Snow argues that we can still learn a few things from the misunderstood shipwreck survivor, despite his mendacity—and more than a few things from Professor Snow himself. * Matthew Restall, author of Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest *
With expert historical detective work, Dean Snow has recovered a compelling 'truth is stranger than fiction' story from early America. David Ingram's odyssey calls to mind the travels of Cabeza de Vaca and Sir Walter Raleigh and the other-worldly fantasy of The Tempest. It is an illuminating record of Elizabethan England's first tentative steps into the New World. * Timothy J. Shannon, author of Indian Captive, Indian King *
Cogent and well-documented, this is a valuable correction to the historical record. * Publishers Weekly *
Provides a rare glimpse of an Atlantic world on the cusp of profound transformations wrought, in part, by ordinary sailors like [Ingram]. * Times Literary Supplement *
Utilising his expertise in the anthropology and archaeology of North America, Snow has meticulously reconstructed Ingram's 3,600-mile journey along known 16th-century indigenous trails, and has also proved that everything Ingram said to his interrogators was true to the best of his knowledge and ability... Fascinating. * History Today *
Utilising his expertise in the anthropology and archaeology of North America, Snow has meticulously reconstructed Ingram's 3,600-mile journey along known 16th-century indigenous trails, and has also proved that everything Ingram said to his interrogators was true to the best of his knowledge and ability... Fascinating. * History Today *
Absorbing... Thanks to Dean Snow's impressive sleuthing, David Ingram's account can at last resume its proper place as an astonishing and true story. * , Sea History *
Table of Contents1. Introduction 2. Ingram in the 1560s 3. Ingram in Africa 4. Ingram in the Caribbean 5. The Long Walk, Autumn 1568 6. The Long Walk, Winter 1568-1569 7. The Long Walk, Spring 1569 8. The Long Walk, Summer 1569 9. The Return 10. Ingram in the 1570s 11. Ingram in the 1580s 12. Ingram's Legacy Appendix: A New Transcript