Eric B. Schultz, the author of four books on King Philip’s War, gave an engaging talk sponsored by the Sherborn Historical Society on May 13, 2026 that detailed the history and the lasting legacy of a brutal war that marked a crucial turning point in the battle for control of land in the New World. Both an in-depth history and a guide to the sites where the great ambushes, raids, and full-scale battles took place, the presentation provided insight into a dark and formative period of America’s past. Click here for a 75-minute YouTube recording of his talk posted by the Sherborn Library. Click here for a 2024 presentation given by Schultz in Wayland, MA.

Eric B. Schultz (above) is the author of King Philip’s War: The History of Legacy of America’s Forgotten Conflict (with Michael Tougias). He began is talk by describing the geographical setting of the start of the War with English settlements surrounding the land occupied by the Pokanoket Tribe and its leader, Metacom or King Philip.

Schultz also noted the location of many of the English Praying Towns, such as Natick (above, left) established by the English to convert Native people to Christianity. He also commented on the later rise in public interest in the War around 1900 when a number of new books about the War were published.

Schultz gathered some of his information about the War from books like Douglas Edward Leach’s Flintlock and Tomahawk, James Deetz’s In Small Things Forgotten, and visits to the Haffenreffer Museum in Bristol, RI that displayed Native artifacts before writing his extensive book about the War that the rest of his presentation described.