Overview

*National Bestseller* A sweeping account of America's oldest unsolved mystery, the people racing to unearth its answer, and the sobering truths--about race, gender, and immigration--exposed by the Lost Colony of Roanoke In 1587, 115 men, women, and children arrived at Roanoke Island on the coast of North Carolina. Chartered by Queen Elizabeth I, their colony was to establish England's first foothold in the New World. But when the colony's leader, John White, returned to Roanoke from a resupply mission, his settlers were nowhere to be found. They left behind only a single clue--a secret token carved into a tree. Neither White nor any other European laid eyes on the colonists again. What happened to the Lost Colony of Roanoke? For four hundred years, that question has consumed historians and amateur sleuths, leading only to dead ends and hoaxes. But after a chance encounter with a British archaeologist, journalist Andrew Lawler discovered that solid answers to the mystery were within reach. He set out to unravel the enigma of the lost settlers, accompanying competing researchers, each hoping to be the first to solve its riddle. In the course of his journey, Lawler encounters a host of characters obsessed with the colonists and their fate, and he determines why the Lost Colony continues to haunt our national consciousness. Thrilling and absorbing, The Secret Token offers a new understanding not just of the first English settlement in the New World but of how its disappearance continues to define--and divide--America.

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9780525632610

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Reviews

Riveting and carefully researched.... Lawler takes us inside one of the oldest and most intoxicating mysteries in American history. --Candice Millard, New York Times bestselling author of Hero of the Empire Plumbing the depths of the lost colony at Roanoke, the most enduring riddle of American history, reveals more about who we are today than the actual fate of the doomed expedition of 1587. Andrew Lawler's exhaustively researched and amusing narrative asks the question, 'What is history?' He deftly shows that the drama of burrowing down rabbit holes and chasing false leads is not simply entertaining, but deeply informative about our past. --Rinker Buck, New York Times bestselling author of The Oregon Trail and Flight of Passage

Riveting and carefully researched.... Lawler takes us inside one of the oldest and most intoxicating mysteries in American history. --Candice Millard, New York Times bestselling author of Hero of the Empire Plumbing the depths of the lost colony at Roanoke, the most enduring riddle of American history, reveals more about who we are today than the actual fate of the doomed expedition of 1587. Andrew Lawler's exhaustively researched and amusing narrative asks the question, 'What is history?' He deftly shows that the drama of burrowing down rabbit holes and chasing false leads is not simply entertaining, but deeply informative about our past. --Rinker Buck, New York Times bestselling author of The Oregon Trail and Flight of Passage The Secret Token dives deep into the mysteries of the Lost Colony, chasing clues across ages, isles, oceans and archives and yielding a beguiling narrative of America's first English colony. This seminal tale of loss and longing helps explain who we are today. --Dean King, New York Times bestselling author of Skeletons on the Zahara and The Feud A fascinating account of one of our country's great historical mysteries. Fast-paced and wonderfully written, with plenty of surprising turns along the way, The Secret Token is a delight. --Nathaniel Philbrick, New York Times bestselling author of Valiant Ambition

Author Information

ANDREW LAWLER is the author of the highly acclaimed Why Did the Chicken Cross the World. He is a contributing writer for Science Magazine, a contributing editor for Archaeology Magazine, and has written for The New York Times, Washington Post, National Geographic, Smithsonian, and Slate.

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