This Mini Explainer introduces The Name of War: King Philip’s War and the Origins of American Identity by Jill Lepore, which focuses on how wars do not end when fighting stops — they continue through stories, symbols, and memory. Click here for a 7-minute video posted on January 26, 2026 by Crisis in Perception. a long-form educational project focused on critical thinking, belief formation, and evidence-based analysis, or click here for a 33-minute audio recording.

Rather than offering moral judgments or historical corrections, the book helps us see how narrative control defines civilization, legitimizes power, and shapes identity across generations.

The fighting and the storytelling aren’t separate events. They’re two sides of the same coin, both working to draw boundaries not just on a map but between people. The name of the War itself is the first battleground and indicates who’s holding the power to define history.

The words chosen — treachery, rebellion, massacre — shape how that death and the entire conflict will be remembered for generations to come.