William Bradford (1590-1657) was an important leader and writer, as part of the Plymouth colony of English Puritan Separatists. He wrote about his experiences in works, which are now among the earliest and most well-known works from American literature. Read more books about William Bradford.
1. Of Plymouth Plantation
by William Bradford, and Francis Murphy (Editor). Modern Library. From the publisher:"William Bradford's 'Of Plymouth Plantation' is a remarkable work by a man who himself was something of a marvel. It remains one of the most readable seventeenth-century American books, attractive to us as much for its artfulness as for its high seriousness, the work of a good storyteller with interlligence and wit."
2. William Bradford's Books: Of Plimmoth Plantation and the Printed Word
by Douglas Anderson. Johns Hopkins University Press. From the publisher: "Far from being the gloomy elegy that many readers find, Bradford's history, argues Douglas Anderson, demonstrates remarkable ambition and subtle grace as it contemplates the adaptive success of a small community of religious exiles. Anderson offers a fresh literary and historical account of Bradford's accomplishment, exploring the context and the form in which the author intended his book to be read."3. William Bradford: Governor of Plymouth Colony
by Marianne Kendrick Hering, Arthur M. Schlesinger (Editor). Chelsea House Publishers. From the publisher: "Plymouth's governor endured the hardships of life in early America, including making peace with the Native Americans."4. Of Plymouth Plantation, 1620-1647
by William Bradford. Knopf. From the publisher: "This edition has a double value: it presents Governor Bradford's text in readable form and it provides contemporary readers with a history of that text and its enduring significance by the historian clearly elect to interpret it."5. The Norton Anthology of American Literature
by Nina Baym (Editor). Norton. From the publisher: "From the inception of 'The Norton Anthology of American Literature,' three goals have been paramount: first, to present a variety of works rich and substantial enough to enable teachers to build their own courses according to their own ideals; second, to make the anthology self-sufficient...; and third, to balance traditional interests with developing critical concerns."6. American Sea Writing: A Literary Anthology
by Peter Neill (Editor. Library of America. To explore the depth of sea writing, Neill has collected works that cover the span of American experience -- from William Strachey, William Bradford, and Cotton Mather, through the explorations of Lewis and Clark to Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Henry David Thoreau, Herman Melville, Walt Whitman, Mary Rowland, Mark Twain, Edgar Allan Poe, Stephen Crane, Jack London, and Eugene O'Neill.7. The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature
by Michael Meyer. Bedford/St. Martin's. From the publisher: "Ideally suited for courses emphasizing writing about literature, this new compact edition of The Bedford Introduction to Literature offers all the distinctive features of Michael Meyer's best-selling introduction to literature in a shorter, less expensive paperback format."8. William Bradford and Plymouth: A Colony Grows
by Susan Whitehurst. Rosen Publishing Group. From the publisher: "William Bradford was the beloved second governor of Plymouth Colony. He was so respected, in fact, that he was elected 30 times to that post... Bradford called his journal about life at Plymouth Colony 'scribbled writing,' but his book Of Plymouth Plantation is a vital source of information about this historic time and place."9. William Bradford: Plymouth's Faithful Pilgrim
by Gary D. Schmidt. Sagebrush Education Resources. From the publisher: "Near starvation. Scurvy, tuberculosis, and pneumonia. Bitter cold. Daily deaths. This was the Pilgrims’ first winter in Plymouth Colony. But thanks in large part to William Bradford, the colonists survived—and went on to celebrate the following year what we call Thanksgiving."10. Homes in the Wilderness: A Pilgrim's Journal of Plymouth Plantation in 1620
by William Bradford, Margaret Wise Brown (Editor). From the publisher: "The drama, adventure, and humor of day-to-day experience abound in this living history of what it felt like to come to America in the fall of 1620. The Mayflower’s passengers arrive in the New World, explore the Cape Cod shore for a place to build homes, tentatively encounter Native Americans for the first time, and thrill at the abundance of land."