Listen free for 30 days

  • The Wordy Shipmates

  • Written by: Sarah Vowell
  • Narrated by: Sarah Vowell
  • Length: 7 hrs and 15 mins
  • 4.9 out of 5 stars (7 ratings)

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo + applicable taxes after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
The Wordy Shipmates cover art

The Wordy Shipmates

Written by: Sarah Vowell
Narrated by: Sarah Vowell
Try for $0.00

$14.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $19.42

Buy Now for $19.42

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Tax where applicable.

Publisher's Summary

The Wordy Shipmates is New York Times best-selling author Sarah Vowell's exploration of the Puritans and their journey to America to become the people of John Winthrop's "city upon a hill" - a shining example, a "city that cannot be hid."

To this day, America views itself as a Puritan nation, but Vowell investigates what that means - and what it should mean. What was this great political enterprise all about? Who were these people who are considered the philosophical, spiritual, and moral ancestors of our nation? What Vowell discovers is something far different from what their uptight shoe-buckles-and-corn reputation might suggest. The people she finds are highly literate, deeply principled, and surprisingly feisty. Their story is filled with pamphlet feuds, witty courtroom dramas, and bloody vengeance. Along the way she asks:

  • Was Massachusetts Bay Colony governor John Winthrop a communitarian, a Christlike Christian, or conformity's tyrannical enforcer? Answer: Yes!
  • Was Rhode Island's architect, Roger Williams, America's founding freak or the father of the First Amendment? Same difference.
  • What does it take to get that jezebel Anne Hutchinson to shut up? A hatchet.
  • What was the Puritans' pet name for the Pope? The Great Whore of Babylon.

    Sarah Vowell's special brand of armchair history makes the bizarre and esoteric fascinatingly relevant and fun. She takes us from the modern-day reenactment of an Indian massacre to the Mohegan Sun casino, from old-timey Puritan poetry, where "righteousness" is rhymed with "wilderness," to a Mayflower-themed waterslide. Throughout, The Wordy Shipmates is rich in historical fact, humorous insight, and social commentary by one of America's most celebrated voices. Thou shalt enjoy it.

  • ©2008 Sarah Vowell (P)2008 Simon & Schuster

    What listeners say about The Wordy Shipmates

    Average Customer Ratings
    Overall
    • 5 out of 5 stars
    • 5 Stars
      6
    • 4 Stars
      1
    • 3 Stars
      0
    • 2 Stars
      0
    • 1 Stars
      0
    Performance
    • 5 out of 5 stars
    • 5 Stars
      5
    • 4 Stars
      1
    • 3 Stars
      0
    • 2 Stars
      0
    • 1 Stars
      0
    Story
    • 5 out of 5 stars
    • 5 Stars
      5
    • 4 Stars
      0
    • 3 Stars
      0
    • 2 Stars
      0
    • 1 Stars
      0

    Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.