The Mayflower Pilgrims: Behind the Myth

The voyage of the Mayflower in 1620 has come to define the founding moment of America, celebrated each year at Thanksgiving. A lavish new drama documentary by Ric Burns, based on governor William Bradford's extraordinary eye-witness account, the Mayflower Pilgrims reveals the grim truth behind their voyage across the Atlantic.

The Pilgrims story is remembered as a pious crusade aimed at founding a Puritan paradise. However their journey from a harsh, violent part of England to a colony where survival is no less assured is a tale of wealth, cruelty and entrepreneurial genius – the promise land was not the paradise expected.