Title: The Wordy Shipmates

Author: Sarah Vowell

Publisher: Riverhead Books 2009

Genre: History

Pages: 272

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Perpetual (Nonfiction Adventure); Mount TBR

To this day, America views itself as a Puritan nation, but Sarah Vowell investigates what that means-and what it should mean. What she discovers is something far different from what their uptight shoebuckles- and-corn reputation might suggest-a highly literate, deeply principled, and surprisingly feisty people, whose story is filled with pamphlet feuds, witty courtroom dramas, and bloody vengeance.

Finally finished this book in the early morning hours. I always love a good history book where I learn something. Thankfully Vowell dives deep into the Puritans to get a good look at the people, their lives, and their beliefs. I enjoyed reading the back and forth between John Winthrop and all of his adversaries. I knew some about Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson, but this book expanded my knowledge. My only issue with the book is Vowell's deviations into current times. Those passages felt a little too long for how short this book is overall. I wanted more time in Puritan New England and less time in the 20th century...