The Children of First Man

In The Children of First Man by Ballantine Books, Copyright 1994, James Alexander Thom wrote a compelling tale that presents a theory on who the Mandan Indian s god, Lone Man, was based on a legend that scholars have been divided about for two centuries or the truth behind the legend of Prince Madoc and his lost Welsh colony In the 1100s, Prince Madoc of Wales, was one of the King s many sons who would not inherit land or have the chance to become king He wanted a kingdom of his own and heard t [...]

An astounding history of the Mandan tribe, who are rumoured to be descended from a Welsh prince Madoc who apparently sailed the Atlantic with a hundred of his community in 1169 1171 yes, 300 years before Columbus in an attempt to found a realm in unchartered territory In a style similar to Rutherford s London or Sarum, Thom uses artifacts to carry his story of this people through the centuries While they re disturbing and heart breaking in turns, each lengthy short story of the generations in th [...]

Having lived on the Navajo Reservation for many years, I am always fascinated with learning about the history of Native Americans This book is fascinating It tells the story of early Welsh settlers to America, long before Columbus Thom presents a compelling argument that these early Welsh settlers can still be found in the language and culture of certain tribes Fascinating reading.

3.5 stars I don t usually read 550 page tomes but thought this one worth the time and effort.

Wat een interessant verhaal over een Welshe prins die naar Amerika gaat en daar zich met zijn.volk settelt.

In this book we meet Madoc a Welsh Prince, who left his homeland to escape from the civil wars after his father the King died, leaving behind his sons fighting for the crown Madoc an accomplished Mariner left to find a place in the new world with one of his older half brother.The historical Madoc is lost in legend, He arrives in the Americas on the Gulf coast along the coastline of Mobile AL This is the legend of the lost Welsh Tribe and their migration from Alabama to the Dakotas How they inter [...]

The writing started out less than elegant, but I decided to keep reading The Children of First Man to see what Thom would do with these Welshmen in the New World Turns out to be a good enough story that explores some topics which I find interesting.Right now, however, I m having issues with Thom s biology While the prehistoric world distribution of syphilis is somewhat controversial, I believe the consensus is growing that syphilis did not exist in the Old World before Columbus and his kind brou [...]

Wonderful book but it doesn t make you proud of what the American Indians suffered at the hands of white settlers

My favorite Thom book I had read it years ago and was glad to read it again for my book club It s long and it s dense and the small paperback format is hard to hold at times, especially if reading in bed, but so worth it Thom deftly immerses us into the minds and hearts of the characters with such ease that a chapter can jump ahead 200 years and we still feel the the thread of connection We are fully present with each character in the ship with Madoc, in the swamps of Florida, the falls of the O [...]

This being my second Thom book, I wasn t let down Covering many centuries and several people s, this is a great fictionalized timeline and I felt immersed in the Native life.I especially loved Thom s ability to get us to see the world through the eyes of the Mandan people The idea that miscommunication and language cultural barriers could cause any culture to veer off into a direction, or cultivate a belief system that might otherwise not have happened, is at once shocking and very believable.I [...]

I can t tell you how much I enjoyed this book It s the third book from Thom that I have read and each one is great The cyclical tragedies of the Mandan people, as Thom proposes here, is very believable and emotional His descriptions are livid and real There is a scene where a warrior captures a wild stallion and tames it enough to ride it all in the same day It was one of the most beautiful passages in the book and kept me up till midnight to finish it Great book, great story and great read Defi [...]

Yeah, this one was weird Thom expands upon the legend of the Welsh Indians he touched upon in From Sea to Shining Sea Legend has it that a 12th century Welsh prince named Madoc sailed to America and started a colony Eventually they moved and intermarried and adapted until they became the Mandan Indian tribe Thom was working on a lot speculation than historical fact on this one, and I think the book suffers for it Some of the explanations he puts forth for various things are interesting, but on [...]

I was really interested in Thom s story of the Mandan people who are thought to have been descended from Madoc, a Welsh mariner and settler I wasn t disappointed in most of the story but there were times when the narrative dragged quite a bit and it took me awhile to get back into the story I think most readers who are interested in Native American prehistory will enjoy this book though those who like books on the various early meetings of Europeans and Natives will enjoy this .

I loved the first part of the book, the second part got kind of long I can t imagine that a people could take for granted the ability to read and not pass it down to their offspring but I suppose it could have happened How tragic to have God s word and not have anyone to read it, forever looking for a connection to their past and their Savior Sad ending to a lovely people.

This is the second book by Mr Thom that I have read He does a marvelous job of taking bits and pieces of historical reference and fleshing it out into a story well worth reading His characters are fully formed, interesting and the story draws you into their lives This book is well worth the read.

I just could not get into this one, others he s written are loads better I m interested in the theory of Madoc but after 144 pages of 544 I found myself struggling to plow through I decided that life is short so why waste time on a book that s not grabbing me.

Helaas is het boek niet geregistreerd met de vertaling in het nederlands, ik lees de vertaling die dan als titel heeft het volk van de blauwe kralen Boek al meerdere keren gelezen en blijf het een geweldig boek vinden.

Good book LIke the author Will have to read it another time, too many other books are interesting at the moment.

Ik registreerde een boek op BookCrossing BookCrossing journal 12941345

I read this once before, years ago, and really liked it I m curious to see if I still like it as much now that some time has passed.

Gelezen in het Nederlands.Het volk van de blauwe kralen.Het is al een tijd geleden dat ik dit boek gelezen heb.Maar weet nog dat ik helemaal in de sfeer van die tijd werd meegezogen.

One of Thom s best

Super cool concept intertwined with some amazing history.

Read this book when i was a teenager and loved it was very disappointed to see such a great book is no longer in print

This was not my favorite Thom book, but it was pretty good, considering that we don t know the answer to whether the Mandan s were of Welsh decent or not He makes a good case for it.

Was there a white Welsh settlement at Louisville long before Columbus discovered the New World in 1492

I love J.A Thom this book was partially set in the Ohio river valley, including Falls of the Ohio, Louisville, Cahokia, and St Louis Fascinating story.

Fascinating blend of historical fact and fiction, spanning several centuries, giving you a sense that what you re reading could actually have happened Loved it.