Oh good, a reply from a Real Live Historian! I will look into the Purkiss and the Worden. Those should keep me busy for a while. The Purkiss in particular sounds interesting. Most of the books I read as a child and young adult were from the point of view of the royalty and nobility making the decisions, not the impoverished peasants paying the consequences of said decisions.

Sorry you guys are getting walloped with snow again. It's no fun.