A Voyage Long and Strange: Rediscovering the New World

By Tony Horwitz
408 pp. Henry Holt, 2008 $27.50

Reviewed by Misty Ann Edgecomb

Most Americans recall from third grade social studies that Columbus “discovered” America in 1492, and that Pilgrims in funny hats settled in New England in 1620, but as pollsters and late night television hosts have proven time and again, this construction-paper tableau is the sad extent of many adults’ understanding of pre-Revolutionary America.

Countless authors have explored this idea of revising the sacred myths of early American history in recent years, from James Loewen’s now-classic Lies My Teacher Told Me, to Charles C. Mann’s 2005 book, 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus. But Horwitz’s book stands out.

Threading his way through the deadly fast channels of the Mississippi, canoe-bound in DeSoto’s wake, or broiling inside a conquistador’s armor on a Florida afternoon, Horwitz brings life and humor to the parade of distantly familiar explorers who so vividly populate the backbone of this story. The conquistadors were neither butchers nor heroes, he argues; they were men. And whether angels or devils led them across the sea, they were a part of the American story.

Like his earlier book Confederates in the Attic —a story about how the Civil War looms over the contemporary South — A Voyage Long and Strange seeks out the pockets of contemporary North America where evidence of this history lingers. When he finds it, Horwitz’s prose sings. Manufactured situations, like an agonizing night in a Newfoundland sweat lodge or a visit to St. Augustine’s “schlocky” (Horwitz’s word) shrine to a nonexistent fountain of youth, which could have been hokey stunts in less sure hands, brilliantly portray the individuals who stubbornly protect threads of history that you won’t find in any textbook.

When Horwitz is thwarted by time or circumstance, however, like in his futile journey to Santo Domingo to seek the remains of Christopher Columbus, the book comes off as more of a travelogue — well-written perhaps, but lacking the impact of those quests that do find gold. As readers, we already know too well that most people walk over their rich history every day.

It’s those who keep these shadowy stories alive that make A Voyage Long and Strange worth reading.