t’s 1765, and you’ve just arrived in New England. Once you’ve had a chance to freshen up and powder your wig, you’ll want to know where to find a room for the night (and how many other travelers might be sharing your bed), which tavern serves a good rum flip, and what you might expect to pay silversmith Paul Revere for a teapot or a set of spoons.

Colonial New England on 5 Shillings a Day answers these questions and many more, as it takes you on a time-traveler’s tour of Yankeedom’s cities and hamlets, highways and byways, customs and quirks in the decade before the American Revolution. What time does the stagecoach leave Boston for Portsmouth, New Hampshire? Should you travel from Providence to Newport by land or sea? Who serves the best fried clams on the Connecticut coast? When you settle into the chimney corner in a Hartford tavern, what newspaper will you likely read?