If you are looking for just the history of the people who arrived on the Mayflower, then this might not be the book you are looking for. If you want to not only learn about the passengers of the Mayflower, but also about their children and grandchildren, then this will fit the bill. The first third of the book does talk about the Separatists who first moved to Leiden, Holland, and then to the New World. The rest of the book deals more with their descendants, as well as the other English who settled in Boston and surrounding area. The main focus of the book, however, is the relationship between the English settlers and the indigenous peoples they encountered.
The original “Pilgrims” had managed to keep the peace with the surrounding tribes. But it was more difficult for their descendants. For one thing, more and more settlers kept arriving, which put pressure on them to acquire more land from the Natives. Also, many of the more recent arrivals were not there just to practice their faith. On the part of the Natives, they were also the children of the individuals who had welcomed, or at least accepted, the first arrivals years before. The forefathers on both sides had managed to maintain a peaceful coexistence. Their descendants would fail at this.
The last two thirds of this book detail what we know as King Philip’s War. Philip, who had his name legally changed after the death of his father, Massasoit, tries to get along with the English, but they don’t make it easy for him. Disputes and misunderstandings lead to the outbreak of hostilities, which would embroil a number of different tribes, on both sides of the dispute, and only end with Philip’s death. Not an auspicious start for a new nation.
If this was your family, how would you research them? If you had an ancestor that sailed on the Mayflower, there is a wealth of information. You can check the website for The Society of Mayflower Descendants, and just about every individual has their own separate society as well, some of which do not require you to prove your descent. Several resources exist for learning about the English who fought in King Philip’s war, including lists of soldiers who served, which can be found on the Internet Archive, at https://archive.org/details/soldiersinkingph00bodg/mode/2up. The book also has an extensive bibliography.