Wordy Shipmates, by Sarah Vowell

The Wordy Shipmates, by Sarah Vowell

272 pages

"To this day, America views itself as a Puritan nation, but Vowell investigates what that means— and what it should mean. What was this great political enterprise all about? Who were these people who are considered the philosophical, spiritual, and moral ancestors of our nation? What Vowell discovers is something far different from what their uptight shoe-buckles-and- corn reputation might suggest. The people she finds are highly literate, deeply principled, and surprisingly feisty. Their story is filled with pamphlet feuds, witty courtroom dramas, and bloody vengeance."

I loved this. I read it in three days, during nap time at work, and it was fast and entertaining. The best kind of nonfiction.