The story properly begins with the hermit-like William Blackstone, who left Massachusetts for the desolate wilderness of Rhode Island. But this strange and little-known man was not the real founder of the Rhode Island Colony. It was Roger Williams who established the first permanent settlement there in 1636, provided the leadership that saw the colony grow and prosper, and, to his great credit, opened it to members of all religious faiths.

As this dramatic book makes plain, Rhode Island's early history was turbulent. Its very existence was threatened by neighboring colonies and by enemies within who would seize power from Williams. But far more dangerous was the Indian Metacomet, known to the settlers as King Philip, whose avowed purpose was to drive the white man from all of New England. Rhode Island did not escape the terror of King Philip's War, but it did produce the man who was most responsible for bringing the war to a close. Captain Benjamin Church, whose exploits read like fiction, led the army that finally destroyed Philip and his forces in a Rhode Island swamp.

And still there was no peace. Although the Rhode Island Colony prospered, it became embroiled in the long series of wars with the French and their Indian allies. Even as these wars came to a close, Rhode Island was in the thick of protest against the increasing oppression of British rule. Colonies other than Massachusetts had their "tea parties," and Rhode Island was no exception. In fact, the colony took even sterner measures against unfair taxation when a daring band of Rhode Islanders burned the British schooner Gaspee off Newport. When the America Revolution finally erupted in 1775, it was Rhode Island that contributed generals (perhaps second only to Washington), Nathanael Greene.

Great men and great times are highlighted in this book, but it focuses, too, on the smaller, day-to-day struggle of men, women, and children to forge a new world from the wilderness, and leaves the reader with a vivid sense of how the spirit of freedom grew in them and led to the achievement of American independence.

From the dust jacket