Argall: The True Story of Pocahontas and Captain John Smith Argall: The True Story of Pocahontas and Captain John Smith Argall is a historical novel by American writer William T. Vollmann, which was first published in 2001. It is the third book in a planned seven-book cycle entitled . (As of 2015, five of the seven books have been published.) "Argall" is a retelling of the founding of the Jamestown Colony and the legend of Pocahontas and Captain John Smith. The novel is primarily written in flowery Elizabethan language, which was met with mixed critical reception; "The New York Times" found the language "endlessly distracting and often silly", whereas the
John Smith (explorer) one of the leaders of the new colony, thus, perhaps, sparing Smith from the gallows. By the summer of 1607, the English colonists were still living in temporary housing. The search for a suitable site ended on 14 May 1607 when Captain Edward Maria Wingfield, president of the council, chose the Jamestown site as the location for the colony. After the four-month ocean trip, their food stores were sufficient only for each to have a cup or two of grain-meal per day. Due to swampy conditions and widespread disease, someone died almost every day. By September, more than 60 of