BRYAN PRESTON: Blood and Metal: Why 1641 Matters So Much to Understanding America’s Founding (Not 1619). “1492 and 1630 are more significant years for the founding of America than 1619. But neither is as significant in the stream of ideas and human rights as 1641. It was in that year that King Charles I went head to head with John Pym, leader of the Puritan faction in the House of Commons. For a stretch a couple of months in late 1641 and early 1642, Pym and Charles went eyeball to eyeball and took England up to and over the brink of civil war. But we have to go back a few years to understand why they clashed.”

This is quite good.