Leading into the 400th anniversary of the voyage of the Mayflower, Martyn Whittock examines the lives of the âsaintsâ (members of the Separatist puritan congregations) and âstrangersâ (economic migrants) on the original ship who collectively became known to history as âthe Pilgrims.âThe story of the Pilgrims has taken on a life of its own as one of our founding national mythsâtheir escape from religious persecution, the dangerous transatlantic journey, that brutal first winter. Throughout the narrative, we meet characters already familiar to us through Thanksgiving folkloreâCaptain Jones, Myles Standish, and Tisquantum (Squanto)âas well as new ones.There is Mary Chilton, the first woman to set foot on shore, and asylum seeker William Bradford. We meet fur trapper John Howland and little Mary More, who was brought as an indentured servant. Then there is Stephen Hopkins, who had already survived one shipwreck and was the only Mayflower passenger with any prior Amer- ican experience. Decidedly un-puritanical, he kept a tavern and was frequently chastised for allowing drinking on Sundays.Epic and intimate, Mayflower Lives is a rich and rewarding book that promises to enthrall readers of early American history.