The historical background to the Stanfield Chronicles includes numerous, documented explorations of discovery to the coastline of what we now know as New England. These voyages were driven by investors who sought to benefit from the rich potential for trade and commerce with the new lands. Trading companies were established and competed for a share of that potential wealth. There were many other interests involving both domestic and foreign players, of which religion was but a part.

The Stanfield Chronicles draw a number of conclusions about the cause and effect of the efforts to establish permanent settlements prior to and after the arrival of the Mayflower in New England in 1620.

Exploration,  Retribution, and Redemption are works of historical fiction written in the form of a journal. The fictional narrator is a young man, Isaac Stanfield, who describes the events and the people responsible for and engaged in those efforts. Isaac has his own story to tell and is a participant in as well as an observer of the actions, planning, intrigue and the many characters, real and fictional. he meets loves, works with and for.

The settlers on the Mayflower are referred to as Pilgrims but, in fact, that term was not used to refer to the settlers as a group with a capital P until about 1800. The settlers were Separatists who had fled England for Leiden in Holland in 1607, determined to separate from the Church of England entirely.

The Puritans wanted to stay within the Church of England but wanted to purify the Church from what they considered catholic influence and a desire for a clearer separation of church and state.

The history of the settlement of New England is fascinating, but I wanted to tell a story to describe and have the reader participate in the story, to meet the people and understand the causes for the Settlement.

The Separatists were pawns in a much wider game, Isaac Stanfield, the narrator, a participant in the game.