A gripping narrative of one of the great survival stories of American history: the opening of the first permanent English settlement in the New World.

'The story of Captain John Smith and Pocahontas is one of the most famous of all historical tales, celebrated in popular culture from the Peggy Lee song 'Fever' to the 1995 Disney movie. But is there any truth behind the romantic legend? In this impeccably researched and very able retelling of the early years of the Jamestown colony in Virginia, David Price interweaves economic and social history with an examination of the most famous North American legend . . . The intersection of the Jamestown story with the careers of Smith and Pocahontas makes a fascinating narrative, and Price has done it full justice.' Independent