On 16 September 1620, 102 passengers and 30 crew set sail on the Mayflower from Plymouth, England, heading for the New World. Making the hazardous journey were the Pilgrim Fathers, a group of separatists who were dreaming of a new life, one in which they could live according to their religious beliefs without interference.
But for historian Stephen Tomkins, the most interesting journey isn't the 66 days they spent onboard the Mayflower crossing the Atlantic; it's what came before that - hence the name of his new book on the subject, The Journey to the Mayflower.
He speaks to Christian Today about the struggle of the separatists and what drove them to risk life and limb by leaving not only the Church of England, but England itself, and heading out to the New World....
