A Man Most Driven: Captain John Smith, Pocahontas, and the Invention of America

Historian and former BBC producer Firstbrook (The Obamas) delves deep into the early history of America with this thoroughly-researched biography of John Smith, who was instrumental in establishing Jamestown as a permanent English settlement in the early 17th century. With so much of Smith’s life known only through his own contradictory writings, Firstbrook approaches the subject with healthy skepticism, examining just where Smith’s claims might be exaggerated and where history backs them up. In the process, Firstbrook also takes a closer look at the legend of Pocahontas, at least partially debunking the motives behind her timely intervention in Smith’s death sentence, suggesting that the entire episode might have been more performance on Smith’s part than he originally made out. Firstbrook’s narrative is dry but detail-rich, drawing heavily from Smith’s writings to tell the story of a larger-than-life figure with an uncanny knack for survival. He may have been prone to self-aggrandizement but he did, in fact, do most of the things he claimed to do. Firstbrook concludes that “If John Smith has one enduring legacy, it was that he was the first Englishman to understand the great American Dream,” and it’s clear that Smith’s adventurous nature and dogged perseverance certainly left a lasting impression on future generations of Americans. Agent: Sheila Ableman, Sheila Ableman Literary Agency (U.K.). (Oct.)