New England Nation

Book excerpt: Out of European revolutions and social upheaval, an extraordinary society of literate, pious, and prosperous English Puritans flowered in seventeenth-century New England. This wonderfully readable history recreates the world of Puritan New England and places it in the broad sweep of history. The book provides a fascinating look into Puritan society, with sailors, sinners, women, children, and Native Americans joining the usual Puritan ministers of the seventeenth century. Combining remarkable primary sources with an enjoyable narrative, this book reveals the New England Nation in its fullness and complexity, and reveals striking parallels with the America of today.