"The records of the Virginia Company during the first three months of the years from January, 1622/23 to January, 1624/25, picture the final attempts to regulate and develop the tobacco trade with Virginia. Then follow papers revealing the bitter attack upon the Earl of Southampton and the adventurers associated with him, by Sir Nathaniel Rich and the defenders of Sir Thomas Smith's regime. Throughout the whole period are portrayed the struggle of the plantation to recover from the Indian massacre of March 22, 1622, and the efforts made by the officials in London and by the Governor, Council, and Assembly in Virginia. "In this volume, then, is to be found the record of the dissension within the company that brought about the close of the corporation and the end of the first of the colony's history. At the same time the beginning of Virginia as a crown colony is set forth. Here also is portrayed the settled life of the plantation. Much is told of the colonists and their efforts to create an organized and systematic government, to produce commodities that would provide the necessities for living, and to develop resources that might result in needful trade with the Indians and with England." An index to full names, places and subjects adds to the value of this work.