Author to discuss King Phillip’s War at Winchendon Library

New York Times bestselling author Michael Tougias will be at the Beals Memorial Library for a presentation on Jan. 30 to speak on King Philip’s War, the subject of a book he co-wrote with fellow author Eric Shultz.

New York Times bestselling author Michael Tougias will be at the Beals Memorial Library for a presentation on Jan. 30 to speak on King Philip’s War, the subject of a book he co-wrote with fellow author Eric Shultz. PHOTO BY LINDSEY POTTER

By GREG VINE

For the Athol Daily News

Published: 01-21-2025 4:00 PM

WINCHENDON – On Jan. 30, history buffs will have an opportunity to learn about King Phillip’s War during a presentation on a new book which resulted from many years of research.

Co-author Michael Tougias, a New York Times bestselling writer, will be at the Beals Memorial Library at 6:30 p.m. to talk about “King Phillip’s War: The History and Legacy of America’s Forgotten Conflict,” which he wrote with co-author Eric Shultz.

The author of 30 books for adults and nine for children, Tougias said growing up in Longmeadow, he would see signs across west and central Mass about King Philip’s War, and wanted to learn more.

“So when I finally asked my father, who was an avid reader, about King Philip and I became very interested,” Tougias said. “I thought, ‘Wow, there was a major war here nobody knows about.’ So, that’s what kind of launched my fascination with it.”

Tougias added that when he was in school, the history lessons would jump from the time of the Pilgrims to the American Revolution, skipping everything in between.

“It might be that it was uncomfortable to teach about what happened because, basically, in that war the natives here in southern New England lost just about everything,” he said. “I do speak at some schools, and they do teach it at the elementary level – a little bit.”

Tougias said his purpose in writing the book was to give perspectives from both sides of the conflict.

“With the more recent book for kids, ‘Ochala and the Pilgrim,’ I just decided I could write about (the time period) because I’m going by the written documentation by the people who were there and I speak to a lot of Native Americans, and I think I give a very balanced portrayal,” he said.

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Tougias pointed out that this year marks the 350th anniversary of the start of King Philip’s War, “so maybe there will be a little more interest in it.”

“Eric was the lead writer, and he was incredible. Years and years of his life have been devoted to researching every battle, every movement, every fact,” Tougias said. “And, through my earlier novel, I wanted to show what it may have been like to be a Native American getting reluctantly drawn into the war. Just to give it balance, one of my characters, based on a real figure, is a colonial farmer just trying to protect what he’s carved out of the wilderness. So, you can see it from both sides.”

King Phillip’s War took place from 1675 to 1678 between colonists and their Native American allies against Indigenous peoples of the Northeast Woodlands led by Metacom, chief of the Pokanoket and sachem of the Wampanoag.

The tribes allied against the colonists, according to Tougias, included “the Wampanoags, the Nipmucs, which would have encompassed a whole bunch of different bands in central Mass and along the Connecticut River, and then the Narragansetts, who were neutral and wanted to stay out of it. But they were attacked by the English in a surprise raid because they were worried (the Narragansetts) might join the uprising. And, of course, after the slaughter, they did join.”

While some refer to the attack on the Narragansetts as the “Great Swamp Fight,” descendants of the Narragansetts refer to it as the “Great Swamp Massacre.”

The first part of Tougias’s presentation at the Beals will discuss the Native American way of life, colonial settlements and the events leading up to the war. The second part covers the battles and strategy employed during this war. Book signing and questions follow.

Greg Vine can be reached at gvineadn@gmail.com.