author
William Bradford
1590–1657
A leading figure of the Pilgrim settlement at Plymouth, he helped guide the colony through its hardest early years and left behind one of the clearest firsthand accounts of that world. His writing brings the Mayflower story close, human, and surprisingly immediate.
4 Audiobooks
About the author
Born in Austerfield, Yorkshire, around 1590, William Bradford was orphaned young and drawn early to the Separatist movement. He joined the English dissenters who fled first to the Netherlands and then sailed on the Mayflower in 1620, becoming one of the key leaders of Plymouth Colony.
After the death of Governor John Carver in 1621, Bradford became governor of Plymouth and served in that role for much of the rest of his life. He is remembered not only for his leadership but also for helping shape the colony's civic life during a fragile and uncertain period.
Bradford's lasting literary importance comes from Of Plymouth Plantation, his detailed history of the colony. Written with plain strength and deep conviction, it remains one of the most important firsthand works from early colonial America.