ix, 219 pages ; 23 cm

This book offers the first full-scale analysis of the Pequot War (1636-37), a pivotal event in New England colonial history. Through an innovative rereading of the Puritan sources, Alfred A. Cave refutes claims that settlers acted defensively to counter a Pequot conspiracy to exterminate Europeans. Drawing on archaeological, linguistic, and anthropological evidences to trace the evolution of the conflict, he sheds new light on the motivations of the Pequots and their Indian allies, the fur trade, and the cultural values and attitudes in New England. He also provides a reappraisal of the interaction of ideology and self- interest as motivating factors in the Puritan attack on the Pequots

Includes bibliographical references (pages 179-214) and index

1. Preconceptions and misperceptions -- 2. Wampum, pelts, and power -- 3. Pequots and Puritans: the origins of the conflict -- 4. The Pequots humbled -- 5. The Pequot War and the mythology of the frontier

comment

Reviews