The Barbarous Years: The Peopling of British North America--The Conflict of Civilizations, 1600-1675   Bernard Bailyn
Stupendously informative history of the social, religious, political, and even personal construction of the British colonies on the eastern shores of North America. Everything about the struggle to create and sustain them was unbelievably brutal and savage, from external and internal forces. Beautifully written so the incredible detail never becomes burdensome. Excellent.