Kenneth A. Lockridge

This came highly recommended by a historian friend; he read it as a student, and says that it completely transformed his concept of how to "do" history. I see what he means. Lockridge's history of Dedham uses primary sources to build a picture of town life during the initial utopian Puritan period up through the first murmurs of Revolutionary New England. He addresses voting rights, land apportioning and use, household goods, and town governance, mainly drawing on land deeds, town meeting records, and records of the Massachusetts General Court (for those cases where the town simply couldn't resolve matters). It's very, very impressive. The best part, though, is the footnotes. Yes, they're citations, but they're also an ongoing conversation with other writers of early New England history: Lockridge agrees, disagrees, points out particular influences, and so on. Good stuff. My only complaint about this book isn't really even a complaint -- it took me ages to get through it because it's so tightly written.… (more)