A Kingdom Strange: The Brief and Tragic History of the Lost Colony of Roanoke

The "gripping adventure story" ( Christian Science Monitor ) of the Lost Colony of Roanoke and the mystery at the center of the American founding

In 1587, John White led 118 English men, women, and children to Roanoke Island, off the coast of North Carolina, intending to establish the first English colony in America. Faced with dwindling supplies and hostile Indians, they soon found themselves struggling to survive. White returned to England for help, but when he returned to Roanoke in 1590, the colonists were nowhere to be found; never saw his friends or family again. Their disappearance has remained a mystery for four centuries, but as James Horn reveals in A Kingdom Strange , some from the party survived. Their descendants were discovered a century later, a living testament to America's remarkable origins.