Luminaries of Early West Barnstable: The Stories of a Cape Cod Village

West Barnstable is unique among historic colonial Cape Cod hamlets. A quartet born in the little village in a fifty-six-year span in the eighteenth century marked this village on the map forever. James Otis Jr., the Patriot," led the intellectual revolution and helped shape American independence. His sister, Mercy Otis Warren, broke free of the defined roles for women of her time to become a significant political activist, dramatist, poet and historian. War hero John "Mad Jack" Percival rose to the highest rank in the U.S. Navy and saved the USS "Constitution "from the scrap heap before sailing it around the world. America's magistrate Lemuel Shaw influenced the country from his seat as chief justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Court. Few villages shone so brightly for their size. Join author James H. Ellis as he traces the stories of West Barnstable's luminaries and their profound village legacy."