The early history of New England is filled with stories about the interactions that took place between the native peoples who were the original residents of the region and the European settlers who were in the process of dislodging the original inhabitants and taking their lands.
During the late 17th century the tensions between the colonists and the local tribes became so intense that some of the native people decided to fight back. The resulting bloodshed unsettled the region for many years to come. Metacom, a charismatic native chief known to the white settlers as King Philip, led the forces which attempted to throw off the yoke of oppression. The story of King Philip's War is well known in New England but less familiar history to those outside of the region.
In his novel "The Savage Apostle," John Kachuba shows readers how the seeds for this conflict had been sown and the events that led up to this outbreak of violence. We are given two different viewpoints of the hostilities as tensions were rising, the point of view of John Eliot, a settler who was determined to convert the native tribes to Christianity, and the point of view of the man who had finally had enough of the colonists and their ways, Metacom, also known as King Philip.
The Book Nook on WYSO is made possible by six local library systems in southwest Ohio: the Greene County Public Library, Washington-Centerville Public Library, MidPointe Library System, Clark County Public Library, Dayton Metro Library, and Wright Memorial Public Library.
