January Selection

Our Beloved Kin: A New History of King Philip's War by Lisa Brooks

About the book

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 far broader scope that includes vast Indigenous geographies, Brooks leads us to a new understanding of the history of colonial New England and of American origins. Brooks’s pathbreaking scholarship is grounded not just in extensive archival research but also in the land and communities of Native New England, reading the actions of actors during the seventeenth century alongside an analysis of the landscape and interpretations informed by tribal history.

About the Author

Lisa Brooks is professor of English and American studies at Amherst College. She is the author of The Common Pot: The Recovery of Native Space in the Northeast.

About the Active Citizens Book Group

The Active Citizens Book Group typically meets on the last Sunday of the month, at 4 p.m. Join us to discuss current affairs in the US and around the world. Future topics will include the environment, racism, economic and gender inequality, and workers' rights.
Each selection of the book discussion group is discounted 20% at the Odyssey Bookshop. Click on the link below to order online. Use code BOOKCLUB to apply the discount at checkout.