Discovering Somers Isles: A Guide to Bermuda’s History 1500-1615

The fact that Bermuda was discovered at allmight seem amazing: the tiny cluster of islands sits almost in the middle of 20,000,000 square miles of the North Atlantic. But sixteenth-century trade routes to the West Indies brought hundreds of ships through the turquoise waters surrounding its desolate shores-and left countless shipwrecks on its uncharted reefs. It is no small wonder that the Bermudas were once known as Devil’s Isles. In May of 1609, a North Atlantic hurricane drove another ship close to the island’s reefs. Battered and sinking, the English ship Sea Venture was run aground by Admiral George Somers and miraculously, all 150 passengers survived. Their story, and how the islands came to be settled, is a remarkable tale ofsurvival and perseverance.This guide uses their words, together with maps and images, to allow readers to envision those shores with seventeenth-century eyes, and discover for themselves what the settlers called Somers Isles.