"CURIOUS INCIDENTS IN KING PHILIP'S WAR" : A BOOK REVIEW

One of my responsibilities at the bookstore is the local interest section,
a perfect match for me considering how my West roots run deep in
Massachusetts. And I have to admit whenever any books come into
the store about Colonial or Revolutionary War New England I check
to see if there is any mention of my ancestors in them.So when Yolanda
Lodi called me at work a few weeks ago about a new book by her
husband Edward Lodi about the King Philip's War I told her some of
my ancestors had fought in it. Yolanda offered to send along a copy of
the new title, "Curious Incidents in King Philip's War", for review
and I spent a few evenings enjoying what I read.

"Curious Incidents in King Philip's War" is a collection of unusual
tales of heroism, savagery, and in some cases the downright strange
during the bloody conflict. Mr. Lodi chose thirty stories taken from old
histories of New England and the war and edited them into short
chapters that are easy to read and enjoyable. There are events and
incidents I have not ever read about before starting from the very first
chapter, which tells how New York Governor Andros tried to take
advantage of the outbreak of the war to seize part of Connecticut!
Another chapter "Angel and Witch" revisits the legend of the Hadley
Angel that Mr. Lodi covered in two earlier books but adds the story
of a Hadley Witch and concludes with a tale about an usual fencing
exhibition. Each chapter also includes his commentary on the particular
event the stories cover and in some cases the veracity of the story.

Although several incidents from Lancaster appear in the book, alas,
none of them involve my relatives,but that didn't stop me from enjoying
it. There's a timeline of the  King Philip's War at the end of book as
well as a biblography of reading material stretching from the 19th
centuryto the present decade. I suspect I will find both useful in my
research into my ancestor's involvement in the war and recommend the
book to those interested in New England colonial history.

"Curious Incidents in King Philip's War"(ISBN 978-1-934400-20-3) ,
compiled and edited by Edward Lodi, is published in softcover and costs
$16.95. It's published by the Lodi's own Rock Village Publishing
Company and you can find it online or at your local bookstore. (They
specialize in books about New England and Yolanda has written some
cookbooks with great traditional New England recipes.) 

Disclaimer: I am a bookseller by trade. I'm recommending a book
you might like to read, and I received a review copy from the 
publishers, a common practice in the bookselling business.