Captain John Smith: A Foothold in the New World

"The mainsail cracked above them in the ferocious wind as a group of red-faced men descended on John. 'You have brought a curse on us. Overboard with you,' one of the men yelled. A chorus of cheers went up. It was the last sound John heard before he was dumped over the side of the ship and engulfed by the dark, roiling ocean."

Thrown overboard, enslaved by the Turks, captured by pirates, rescued by a princess -- the story of Englishman John Smith (1580-1631) would seem unbelievable were it ...