PURITANS, PLAGUES, AND PROMISES IBD

Sinopse

Puritans, Plagues, and Promisesátransports you back four centuries into some ofáEnglandâÇÖs most tumultuous times. From the beginning pages, a web of intrigue engulfs the first two characters: the Cole family patriarch and his Puritan vicar. A participant in secret nonconformist meetings, the vicar is arrested, imprisoned, and put on trial in EnglandâÇÖs highest courts. Standing firm for his faith, he and eight fellowáPuritansáreveal conflicts of conscience with the Church of EnglandâÇÖs powerful leaders and with Queen ElizabethâÇÖs hand-picked Privy Council. In the face of adversity in London, powerful forces collide-with consequences of life or death.Author ColeâÇÖs meticulously researched creative nonfiction narrative contains more than 500 citations to early books, manuscripts, court records, and other sources, some dating back hundreds of years. These records illuminate his charactersâÇÖ lives and reveal long-lost details hidden in EnglandâÇÖs archives-underutilized treasure troves of genealogical gems. The author provides eighty-five images of people, places, and parchment. Two dozen have never been published, revealing more than twenty historic genealogical breakthroughs.The resulting stories expose formidable influences and challenges-political, religious, legal, and economic-that set the stage for conflicts of Church and State, the rule of law, and a monarchâÇÖs absolute power.áPuritansáare caught up in extraordinary circumstances that reveal the adventures of ordinary people who were brave and daring.áPlaguesádecimate some families and skip others. Their stories rivet our attention. Deeply touched, we are left to reflect on what might have been.áPromisesáare made, broken, fulfilled, unfulfilled, and sometimes deferred. These multi-faceted storylines draw us into the lives of those who set the stage for colonizing America.As a fitting climax, the author delves deeply into the final straws that push, pull, and propel the authorâÇÖs ancestors and 21,000 other English men, women, and children to leave England during the Great Puritan Migration and forge new lives in America. The story ofáPuritans, Plagues, and Promisesáis one that represents us all.