Indian Wars in New England

Warren, James A.  God, War, and Providence: The Epic Struggle of Roger Williams and the
         Narragansett Indians against the Puritans of New England.  New York: Scribner, 2018  ISBN:
         978-1-5011-8041-5

 What do you know about early New England history - say 1635 to 1675?  Were the Puritans the same as the Pilgrims?  Why did folks brave the rough Atlantic to come to a rocky coast and settle?  What did the early settlers do to survive and then thrive? In God. War. and Providence. James A Warren works on shedding light on this little studied history of the relations of English settlers and and their Native American neighbors in the 1600's.

James A. Warren opens the book with a key attack on the Narragansett Indians during King Philip's War.  He then goes back to set the stage by building from 1635 when relations between Indian and Puritan were peaceful to the 1670's when war was waged to crush the local Indians once or all.  Along this journey of exploration comes Roger Williams who plays a crucial role in the evolving relationship of settlers and natives.  The colony of Rhode Island was settled after he was cast out of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and the Plymouth Colony for preaching his conscience.  By establishing a colony based on freedom of religion that also cultivated good relations with local Indian tribes, Rhode Island proved an obstacle to the United Colonies plans for dominating New England.  Roger Williams had to make two trips to England to totally secure the rights and boundaries of Rhode Island against the depredations of the Puritans. Roger Williams also did what he could to defuse the brewing conflict between the Puritans and Narragansetts, but ultimately failed.

James A Warren wrote a very readable, yet scholarly examination of early New England history that is skimmed over in most histories.  He skillfully uses the sources available while discussing the shortcomings of each.  So if you are interested in secret or hidden American stories, read God, War, and Providence.

And It was Caught on Film!

Makos, Adam.  Spearhead: The World War II Odyssey of an American Tank Gunner.  New York:
           Ballantine, 2019.  ISBN: 9780804176729

Tank versus tank!  Pershing versus Panther!  And caught on film?  No, this is not a war movie, rather this is a World War II tale worth making into a movie.  Adam Makos met with Clarence Smoyer in 2012 and that launched a journey that led to this book.

Clarence Smoyer was a tank gunner in the 3rd Armored Division lead by General Rose.  He came ashore in France 3 weeks after D-Day as a loader and was promoted to gunner in a Sherman tank in August.  As the book opens, the 3rd Armored Division was laying an ambush for the German army trying to escape France at Mons, Belgium.  A German tank pulled in next to Clarence's tank during the night and the fight was on.  The fight continued through the Battle of the Bulge, receiving a Pershing, the conquest of Cologne which included a one on one between a Panther and a Pershing, and the attack at Paderborn against the German Panzer Training Cadre.

But this is not just the tale of Clarence and his exploits.  It is also the tale of Gustav Schaefer (German tank crewman), Buck Marsh (infantry scout in 3rd Armored Division), and Chuck Miller (officer from 3rd Armored Division).  Their stories are entwined with Clarence during the war and afterwards when in 2013 all four met in Cologne, Germany, to discuss what happened there and the influence that had on their lives since.

In Spearhead, Adam Markos delivers a well written World War II account of action from the 3rd Armored Division illustrated with pictures of the participants and maps of the battles.  the author also researched the details given by the individuals to verify details.  A very interesting read!