About the Book
The Mayflower II—the replica of the 1620 ship that brought the Pilgrims to America and launched a nation—is seen by some 2.6 million visitors to Plymouth annually and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. But there is much more to the replica’s story than meets the eye. In fact, the origins of Project Mayflower began in the 1950s not with an American, but with a British World War II veteran named Warwick Charlton who had what seemed an impossible dream: to build a historically accurate replica, sail her across the Atlantic, and present the finished product as a thank-you to his country’s wartime ally.
What Charlton didn’t know was that the son of a powerful New England financier had the same idea. Henry “Harry” Hornblower II wanted a replica just as badly, though for a different reason: as the star attraction for a new museum he was building in Massachusetts, soon to be known as Plimoth Plantation, where the original Mayflower had landed centuries before. Despite clearly different personal motives, Charlton and Hornblower agreed to join forces when they met by chance in 1955. Charlton would be responsible for financing, construction, and the vessel’s safe passage across the Atlantic, while Hornblower promised mooring, maintenance, and exhibition. Neither man could imagine what would happen next.
Project Mayflower recounts the never-before-told story of a grand adventure, from the origins of the idea, through the financial and political influences that nearly scuttled the ship, and the challenges of building an accurate replica based on a single known mention: William Bradford’s reference in Of Plimoth Plantation describing his craft simply as “180 tons of burden.” From there, Stone traces the Mayflower II’s dramatic seven-week ocean voyage from Plymouth, England, to Plymouth, Massachusetts, in the skilled hands of Alan Villiers and a crew of thirty-three bold men, and finishes by exploring the legacy of praise for the achievement, the skulduggery to tarnish the reputation of the project’s creator, and finally the Mayflower II’s lasting—and ongoing—impact on the United States of America.
About the Author :
Richard A. Stone is the founder of Mayflower Event News, an information platform devoted to stories related to the Mayflower and Mayflower II. A graduate of Harvard (BA in economics) and the University of California, Los Angeles (MA in journalism), he worked for decades with America’s premier media groups, including NBC, HBO, Time Inc., and ESPN/Disney. He has additionally provided expertise to the Canadian Football League, advised Panasonic Avionics on in-flight entertainment, and worked as a consultant to the Plimoth Patuxet Museums. Originally from Southern California, he now lives in Cos Cob, Connecticut.
Review :
I love this book! It’s vivid, wry, surprising; a wonderful and enlightening tale. It brings to life a cast of characters and a set of adventures that modern readers will learn from, remember, and enjoy.
The true story of a plucky British World War II vet’s dream of building a replica of the Mayflower and sailing her across the Atlantic, Richard A. Stone’s superb Project Mayflower will engage all nonfiction readers who go in for accounts of perseverance against remarkable odds—and the maritime history buffs among them will want to make space on the bookshelf where they keep their Samuel Eliot Morisons and Nathaniel Philbricks.
In his new book, Stone brilliantly combines stories of adventure at sea and enterprise on land. The creation of the Mayflower II is a triumphant tale of personal persistence and international cooperation following the devastation of the Second World War.
A rollicking, riveting glimpse behind the scenes at one of the most brash enterprises ever to take to the high seas. Mayflower II had to navigate the storms of funding, political skulduggery, and the fierce Atlantic Ocean before emerging triumphant as an enduring testament to history and human experience.
Project Mayflower is a fascinating and quirky tour through the early European settlement of New England and the quixotic quest of an English World War II veteran and writer to build a replica of the Mayflower and sail it across the Atlantic in the 1950s. His lofty, attention-seeking dream—a gesture of goodwill and a symbol of triumph over adversity—led to a partnership with the scion of a wealthy New England family and a tug-of-war over the ship’s purpose and future. The story, with its unexpected detours into politics, global events, and creative marketing schemes, proves the maxim that truth is stranger than fiction.
Stone weaves the history of the Mayflower and the process of building its replica, the Mayflower II, into a masterful narrative. Thoroughly researched, Stone uses his gift for storytelling to take the reader on an intrepid journey through the historical, financial, and political challenges of trying to re-create the past. Whether you have a passion for history, material culture, political intrigue, or sailing, there's something in Project Mayflower for everyone!
Project Mayflower is a richly detailed telling of the vision, determination, and endless challenges to build a perfect replica of one of the Atlantic’s iconic three-masted vessels and recreate the two-month journey across the Atlantic. From the financial and political machinations that almost scuttled the project, to the manufacture of the hemp lines to seventeenth-century specifications, to the hardtack and salt pork in the sailors' mess, Richard Stone charts every step of the endeavor with meticulous research and breezy prose.
