Hakluyt's Promise, By Peter C Mancall
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.An on-your-bike precursor of Norman Tebbit, the Elizabethan academic and cleric Richard Hakluyt wrote influential works urging his fellow countrymen towards the New World. He was astonished that the English had not yet "set fast footing in such fertill and temperate places, as are yet unpossessed... of Spaniardes and Portingales".
Unfortunately, his works are just about all we know of the enigmatic Hakluyt. This lack of fact prompts Mancall to bulk out his account with what journalists call "colour". One reviewer criticised him for "narrative Polyfilla".
Another said he "does not describe college life [at Oxford] generically". The result is a readable account of the birth of English colonialism.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments