Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
5/5
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author
Tom Juergens
Tom Juergens became an ink-stained wretch in his formative years, taking a quick stab at creating a neighborhood newspaper. He started writing for real newspapers as a Boston Unive...view moreTom Juergens became an ink-stained wretch in his formative years, taking a quick stab at creating a neighborhood newspaper. He started writing for real newspapers as a Boston University journalism intern then spent several years as a staff reporter at various New England daily and weekly newspapers, including the now defunct Beverly Times and The Register on Cape Cod. He has also been published in the Boston Sunday Globe and Offshore. Other jobs he�s held include lineman, carpenter, cabinetmaker, real estate agent, real estate appraiser and paralegal. In between those noneditorial jobs, he has always returned to wordsmithing in one form or another, freelancing as a journalist, corporate writer, technical writer and technical book editor.
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A side of the Puritans you�ve never heard off�
Wicked Puritans of Essex County provides insights into heretofore hidden aspects of the Puritan story by going over the Puritan criminal record with a fine tooth comb and shows these god-fearing English Protestants like you never imagined them.
Juergens book debunks mythologies that have long obscured certain realities of the Puritan era, starting with the mythical grammar school image of Puritans as a people who held the moral high ground. It shows in great detail that the Puritans could be as flawed as any other people. Yes, they went to church a lot, but they were fined if they didn�t. One example�unlike Hester Prynne in The Scarlet Letter, some mothers of illegitimate children killed their babies rather than face shame and stigmatization. Several were caught, but how many weren't?
Wicked Puritans of Essex County also shows the Puritans can�t be painted with just one brush. Puritans rebelled against authority, using disrespect, mockery, and some very unusual forms of protest, including public nudity. Some even called their ministers liars, and worse!view less