FLINTLOCK AND TOMAHAWK

by Douglas Edward Leach ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 25, 1958

A long and carefully documented study of the first ""total"" war fought on the American continent, known as King Philip's War, forerunner of successive conflicts between Indians and the white settlers. Despite outward amity in New England, prior to 1675, each side remained suspicious of the other, divided among themselves as to policy. King Philip - using the name by which the whites of the Massachusetts' settlements knew him - was chief of the Wampanoags and a man of high intelligence, who never ceased to hate the whites. He determined in 1675 that the time had come to rid their lands of the white aggressors. Gathering around him resentful from other tribes, he launched real war against the settlers, a far flung conflict fought in forests and clearings, with ambuscades and pagan cruelty. The war brought terror and havoc, it forced the abandonment of remote farms and even of established settlements and villages. As an attempt to drive the English from the continent the war was foredoomed to failure and by 1676 had collapsed, but it left behind the scars of fear and hatred.... For the scholar, the meticulously detailed length may be no hindrance; for the average reader, the length and the somewhat pedantic style will make it heavy going. Primarily a book for students of early American history.

Pub Date: March 25, 1958

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Macmillan

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1958

Categories: NONFICTION