They Knew They Were Pilgrims

"“What Turner achieves, in what will surely become the definitive history of the Plymouth Colony, is a double perspective…He is excellent at exploring the paradoxes of Calvinist determinism…and deftly untangles knotty concepts such as Arminianism and the Halfway Covenant. He allows us to admire the Pilgrims' persistence, endeavour and energy…while giving a clear-eyed assessment of their intolerance and occasional inhumanity.”—Richard Francis, Spectator “John G. Turner's superbly detailed new history of the colony looks at what Turner calls the ""contest for American liberty.""""—Rebecca Fraser, Times Literary Supplement “Compellingly written and centering the testimonies of formerly enslaved people, this award-winning book is an important contribution to both historiography and contemporary politics.”—Dr Ben Marguiles, LSE Review of Books “Turner has given us the history we need to understand what really mattered about Plymouth.”—Evan Haefeli, Journal of Religious History “In the twentieth century few academic historians have revisited the political, social and religious history of the colony, a void that John Turner has filled with a skilfully written, archive-based history that extends from start (1620) to finish (1691), when the government of William III incorporated it into Massachusetts.”—David D. Hall, Journal of Ecclesiastical History Received the CT Award of Merit for the history/ biography category, sponsored by Christianity Today Finalist for the 2020 TGC History Book Prize, sponsored by The Gospel Coalition Shortlisted for the New England Society Book Award, sponsored by the New England Society in the City of New York “This highly important book will become the new standard work on the Plymouth Colony.”—Thomas Kidd, author of Who Is an Evangelical? “They Knew They were Pilgrims is a deeply-researched must-read for anyone interested in the Pilgrims and in the history of 17th-century Plymouth Colony.”—Michael P. Winship, author of Hot Protestants “This is ‘Pilgrim’ history from start to finish—all the way from the stirrings of ‘separatism’ in late sixteenth-century England to the absorbing of Plymouth Colony into Massachusetts in 1691. Told with unusual lucidity, Turner’s narrative avoids the myths of the Pilgrims as founders of our democracy or ‘Congregationalism.’”—David D. Hall, author of The Puritans: A Transatlantic History “Turner takes readers deep into the complex world the Pilgrims inhabited, giving an old familiar story remarkable new life and power. The story he tells is at once entertaining, erudite, and wonderfully human.”—Margaret Bendroth, author of The Last Puritans “Precisely crafted and far-ranging, They Knew They Were Pilgrims resets Plymouth’s significance in a rapidly evolving colonial world and deftly probes the Pilgrims’ complex relationship to liberty.”—Donna D. Curtin, Pilgrim Hall Museum"