Reyling almost exclusively on a fresh reading of the surviving original sources, the author revises the accepted ideas about Virginia, and studies the economic and social life of the community and its early attempts at self-government.

The English invasion -- Opechancanough, the Powhatans, and the Europeans, 1561-1644 -- John Rolfe, Pocahontas, and "that chopping herbe of Hell," tobacco -- Life and death at Jamestown -- God and man at Jamestown -- Self-government and self-interest in a Planters' Parliament -- Bacon's uprising, Lawrence's rebellion -- The Jamestown community : a conspicuous failure -- The people, the site, and the port -- Jamestown : symbol for Americans.