The Roops (I, Columbus, 1990, etc.), skillfully adapting primary sources, fill a gap left when E. Brook Smith and Robert Meredith's Pilgrim Courage (1962) went out of print. They have selected passages from William Bradford's Of Plymouth Plantation and Mourt's Relation to tell the Pilgrims' story from their departure from Holland in August 1620 until the arrival of the Fortune in November 1621. In between are the familiar tales of hardship, encounters with native populations, and the feast of thanksgiving. Spelling and punctuation are modern, and some of the language has been altered for clarity, but the unmistakable cadences of King James's English roll from the pages, their dignity and power intact. A cavil: In Bradford's famous ``so the light kindled here'' passage, shone is less-sensibly rendered as shown. Still, invaluable for those eager for textual authenticity and ready to go beyond Marcia Sewall's The Pilgrims of Plimoth (1986) and Joan Anderson's The First Thanksgiving Feast (1984). (Nonfiction. 10+)
