Tony Williams taught history and literature for ten years, and has a Master's in American History from Ohio State University. He is currently a full-time author who lives in Williamsburg, Virginia, with his wife and children. Dr. Stephen F. Knott is an Associate Professor of National Security Affairs at the United States Naval War College, and the author of several books.

The American dream was built along the banks of the James River in Virginia.

The settlers who established America's first permanent English colony at Jamestown were not seeking religious or personal freedom. They were comprised of gentlemen adventurers and common tradesmen who risked their lives and fortunes on the venture and stood to reap the rewards-the rewards of personal profit and the glory of mother England. If they could live long enough to see their dream come to life.

The Jamestown Experiment is the dramatic, engaging, and tumultuous story of one of the most audacious business efforts in Western history. It is the story of well-known figures like John Smith setting out to create a source of wealth not bestowed by heritage. As they struggled to make this dream come true, they would face relentless calamities, including mutinies, shipwrecks, native attacks, and even cannibalism. And at every step of the way, the decisions they made to keep this business alive would not only affect their effort, but would shape the future of the land on which they had settled in ways they never could have expected.

The Jamestown Experiment is the untold story of the unlikely and dramatic events that defined the "self-made man" and gave birth to the American dream.

Tony Williams taught history and literature for ten years, and has a master's in American history from Ohio State University. He wrote Hurricane of Independence and The Pox and the Covenant, and is currently a full-time author who lives in Williamsburg, Virginia, with his wife and children.

Contents

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction xi

1. Gentlemen Adventurers and the Call to Empire 1

2. John Smith and the Idea of Virginia 25

3. Voyaging to Virginia 41

4. Settling Virginia 55

5. Death in Jamestown 69

6. Golden Dreams 87

7. The Rise of John Smith 103

8. For God, Glory, and Gold 123

9. A Fateful Day for the Sea Venture 139

10. The Sinking of the Sea Venture 151

11. The Fall of John Smith 161

12. The Isle of Devils 173

13. The Starving Time 191

14. Martial Law 203

15. War 215

16. An Enterprising Colony 233

17. A Royal Colony 245

Epilogue 255

Endnotes 259

Bibliography 279

Index 287

About the Author 33