But he has one huge advantage: the rich 17th-century records of the original Providence Island Company, which tried to found a Promised Land South to rival the famous one in Massachusetts. Although its settlers arrived on the sister ship to the Mayflower, relations between the two settlements were rather fraught. The island’s settlers quickly realized there was money in being pirates — or, if you prefer, special forces in the godly war against Spain. The island was taken by the Spanish and became Santa Catalina, was then lost by them and taken back again; but now Feiling’s story changes. When the British of that time talked about empire, they meant Ireland and nothing much beyond the British Isles.

Source: New York Times May 11, 2018 14:37 UTC