KINGDOM STRANGE is enlightening in a few respects, at least for me. I was aware that the Roanoke settlers had left a message as to their possible destination, but I didn't know that this was prearranged so that John White would know where to look for them if it took longer than he thought to return. Also, if they had been attacked they were to put a cross through the message. There was no cross.

I also didn't know that the settlers knew the Indians on Croatoan Island, that they were friendly, that the settlers had a small ship at their disposal, and that there had been a previous settlement on Roanoke.

Sir Walter Raleigh was the brains behind the Roanoke settlement, but he had intended for them to land in the Chesapeake Bay area, where Jamestown was eventually located. Raleigh was a favorite of Queen Elizabeth and she would not allow him to go along. Raleigh planned the settlement as a foothold for the English in the new world, and as a base from where they could attack Spanish merchantmen in the Caribbean. There were also rumors about a passage to India and gold and other precious metals in the Appalachians.

When John White left for England to recruit more settlers and for more supplies, the Spanish Armada was getting ready to attack England. This delayed his return by over three years, and when he finally returned, they were gone, leaving a carved message about Croatoan on a tree. The mariners on board White's ships were more interested in raiding Spanish vessels than in looking for the missing settlers, and it took twenty years for anyone to finally investigate. That someone was Captain John Smith of Jamestown.

What we learn from author James Horn's study is that there were a lot more Indians near Roanoke and Chesapeake Bay than we could have imagined. And the English didn't treat them very well. The tribes were a lot like European countries before WWI. They made complicated alliances and wondered whether the English were a help or a hindrance. The tribes were also being affected by European diseases.

Most of what Horn says about the ultimate fate of the settlers is based on rumor and speculation: grey-eyed Indians living near Croatoan Island, Indian houses built in the European style etc. But Horn never gives any evidence that anybody actually found an Indian house built in that style or that there were any remains of the small ship and European paraphenalia found on Croatoan Island.

Dave Schwinghammer's unconventional mystery, SOLDIER'S GAP, is available on authorsden and at Amazon.com, new and used. Please check out the reviews. Thank you.