The Bristol Historical and Preservation Society and Rogers Free Library are commemorating the 350th anniversary of the King Philip War with a Book Club session on April 5th.

On June 20, 1675, Pokanoket warriors killed seven colonists in Swansea in retaliation for a series of injustices suffered at the hands of the English. Generally considered the beginning of King Philip’s War, this act led to a bloody conflict that involved every New England colony and Algonquian peoples throughout the region. Local tribes attacked more than half of all the settlements in New England and reduced about a dozen towns in Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay colonies to ashes. By the end of the War in August of 1676, more than 600 settlers had died and 1,200 homes had been burned. An estimated 3,000 Native Americans died at the hands of the English. 

• The final discussion will cover the book, The Name of War by Jill Lepore, on April 5th.

Copies of the books are available for checkout at the Library circulation desk. 

For more information contact BHPS or the Rogers Free Library.