Much has been written about the Pilgrim Fathers and the sturdy square-rigger, the Mayflower. But what of the ship's captain? Who was he? True, mention is made of him in some of the accounts, and of the help he gave the Pilgrims that first perilous winter, but now in this story he comes at last into his own.

Christopher Jones, captain of the Mayflower, was born in 1570 in Harwhich, England. He was left fatherless at eight; apprenticed at eleven; and became master of his own ship at eighteen.

Open the oak door of the stone house on the high street beside the River Stour and meet him and his family. There is his first love, the quiet Sarah, who shared his home and his life for a few years; his second wife, the lively Josian, whom he had known since childhood; and finally, the least one, "Skipper Jon," the youngest of his children.

Stand with him on the poop deck of the Mayflower as he and his ship beat their way westward in 1620, battling crosswinds, adverse currents, and hurricane gales. See through the eyes of this kind and shrewd captain the beginning of the first permanent settlement in New England.

With the faultless research, sensitive writing, and sure talent for recreating a man and his times, Etta DeGering presents Christopher Jones, the captain of the Mayflower.

From the dust jacket