"With rigorous original scholarship and creative narration, Lisa Brooks recovers a complex picture of war, captivity, and Native resistance during the "First Indian War" (later named King Philip's War) by relaying the stories of Weetamoo, a female Wampanoag leader, and James Printer, a Nipmuc scholar, whose stories converge in the captivity of Mary Rowlandson. Through both a narrow focus on Weetamoo, Printer, and their network of relations, and a...

On September 1, 1675, Indians attacked the small frontier settlement of Hadley, Massachusetts. Although the settlers were armed, they felt helpless not knowing how best to defend themselves. Suddenly a stranger appeared in their midst; obviously military, he took command and organized the men into groups, some to defend the women and children, others to present a counter offensive. Leading the assault, they took the attackers by surprise and drove...

"Colonist Benjamin Waite, a devoted husband, father, and skilled military scout in King Philip's War, reluctantly obeys orders to guide a brutal attack against a camp of Algonquian Natives. After the catastrophic event, Benjamin is burdened with guilt and longs for peace. But the Algonquians, led by the revered sachem Ashpelon, retaliate with vengeance upon Ben's Massachusetts town of Hatfield, capturing over a dozen colonists, including his pregnant...