The Unredeemed Captive

A Family Story from Early America

By: John Demos

Narrated by: Grover Gardner

The setting for this haunting and encyclopedically researched work of history is colonial Massachusetts, where English Puritans first endeavored to "civilize" a "savage" native populace. There, in February 1704, a French and Indian war party descended on the village of Deerfield, abducting a Puritan minister and his children. Although John Williams was eventually released, his daughter horrified the family by staying with her captors and marrying a Mohawk husband.

Out of this incident, Bancroft Prize-winning historian John Devos has constructed a gripping narrative that opens a window into a North America where English, French, and Native Americans faced one another across gulfs of culture and belief - and sometimes crossed over.

©2011 John Demos (P)2017 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Amazing Story

Having grown up near a spot where Persons on the march north to Canada where buried after the attack. I always wondered what the whole story was. This has answered a lot of my youthful questions.

Family history with international significance

Demos did a wonderful job weaving a story from many diverse sources. He demonstrated skills as both scholar and storyteller.

Great work and great subject to read up on.

It was great and falls under the category of non-fiction that is “I’m so glad someone told this story.” The author does an amazing job of piecing together a story from primary and secondary stories of the capture and integration of the unredeemed captive. I only wish that Eunice Kanenstenhawi had written her own account ala Mary Rowlandson. But the fact that the author was able to cobble together her story at all from her relatives and others is a testament to the detail and dedication to the subject matter.

I highly recommend this and then if you remotely enjoyed it, read “The Name of War,” by Jill Lenore, then read Mary Rowlandson’s narrative in her book after. Fascinating!

The narrator was good as well, particularly with his French pronunciations.

Very interesting .

The book was captivated and kept your attention. I would recommend for a listen to anyone that enjoys Indian history .