In December 1606, three ships, unimpressive even by the standards of the day, set sail from England. On board were one hundred and fifty men. Before them lay the treacherous ocean, and awaiting them, trackless wilderness Sir Walter Raleigh had named Virginia. Already one settlement had mysteriously perished there. It was up to this mixed band of men to see that their settlement, Jamestown, should survive as the first English foothold on the North American continent. 

The odds against success were fearfully high. Not only were the settlers unprepared for the rigors of nature, but violent rivalries splintered their unity, and the powerful Indian tribes of the region were a constant threat. But the Englishmen had a remarkable leader, Captain John Smith, and the saga of the survival of Jamestown and the exploits of this amazing man are inseparable. 

Smith escaped brutal death at the hands of the Indians through the intercession of the Indian princess Pocahontas, and went on to defeat them in battle and negotiate with them in peace to obtain the security and supplies that would keep the colony alive through the first terrible winters. It was John Smith who guided the colony upon the path that would lead England to become the greatest European power in North America, convincing both the colonist and their sponsors in England that the true richness of America lay not in gold and silver, but in the wealth of the forests, the fertility of the soil, and the boundless freedom and opportunity all men would be offered in the New World. 

This book captures the spirit of human adventure at a time when Europeans first encountered a virgin land whose untamed vastness defied the imagination. The settling of America was full of drama and the story of Jamestown is one of its most fascinating, suspenseful, and decisive chapters. 

From the dust jacket