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The true story of the Englishman who gave away Mayflower II to America. In the year 2020 a tiny, poorly designed, ill-equipped, wooden sailing ship will be the focus of attention for millions of people on both sides of the Atlantic. The occasion will be the 400 year anniversary of the arrival of the Mayflower on the shores of North America, carrying the first settlers from Europe in 1620. However, the star attraction will not be the original Mayflower but a replica that was built by an Englishman, Warwick Charlton. Although he had no financial resources and no knowledge of sailing ships, he built Mayflower II in under 2 years. Then he sailed it to America in 1957 and gave it to the American people. Over the last 60 years Mayflower II has become a national icon, visited by over 25 million Americans and seen by many millions more on television, the printed press and the Internet. This replica is now considered so valuable that it has been lovingly restored at a cost of $7.5 million. This is the true story of Warwick Charlton, his storm-tossed life in war and peacetime, how and why he built Mayflower II and his continuing connection with the ship. It is a story that involves larger than life characters, suspicion, conspiracy, deception and finally triumph against all odds; a story that in many ways mirrors the trials of the first settlers to set foot on North American soil in 1620. Above all, it is a story of a man who had an intense love of history, democracy and the United States; an adventurer without an ounce of fear.
The power of one man's imagination, his ability to find a solution to one insurmountable problem after another is a reoccurring theme in this biography of Warwick Charlton. He was a truly astonishing man who thought of the idea of giving a gift of a replica of the Mayflower to America.Nothing deterred him including the fact that he had no financial resources at the time, knew nothing about sailing, had no plans for the ship, no builder. and faced opposition from authorities.The power of his thought seamed to turn his dream into reality. He got the ship built in a couple of years, sailed it to America and gave it to the American people. Today Mayflower II has been visited by millions and is an American treasure.Warwick's son Randal, the writer of of this story, soon disappears as the pages unfold and it is as if Warwick is telling the story himself. Mayflower II was the largest chapter of this incredilble mans life but it becomes obvious that this man was a major player on humanitys stage. Read The Wicked Pilgrim to be inspired by a dreamer who lived his life going whole hog plus the postage.