Ellis has written four books either wholly or partly about Cape Cod history. As well, he has authored numerous comparable articles in regional magazines such as Cape Cod, Cape Cod Life, On the Water, and Coastal Lifestyle: Cape Cod and the Islands. He has lectured on historical matters including a slide presentation on Thoreau’s Cape Cod. Following Thoreau’s keen interest in wildflowers, Ellis has conducted wildflower inventories and led wildflower walks for the local land trust. He has been active in local historical societies and organizations, and he is a member of the Thoreau Society.

Mr. Ellis published A Ruinous and Unhappy War with Algora in 2009. His first book, Mad Jack Percival: Legend of the Old Navy, came out in 2002.

A lifelong resident of Cape Cod, Mr. Ellis is a direct descendant of no fewer than 17 of the passengers on the Mayflower.

Anticipating the harm another war with England would bring, New England's regional leaders opposed it from the outset. Party politics played a major role. Federalists, dominant in the northeast, at every turn badgered and challenged the war...

Anticipating the harm another war with England would bring, New England's regional leaders opposed it from the outset. Party politics played a major role. Federalists, dominant in the northeast, at every turn badgered and challenged the war policies of the administration and its majority Democratic'Republican Party. New England's churchmen, still heavily influenced by Puritanism, railed against the ungodly actions of the national government. But economic issues proved to be a greater source of dissension. From earliest times, New England had been tied to the sea. Merchants, fishermen, and others dependent on an open ocean were devastated by the embargoes and blockades of the war. Unemployment deepened, businesses failed, and privation spread.�  This book pulls together material from period sources (diaries, journals, logs, letters, government documents, newspapers) scattered throughout the region's archives, libraries, museums, and town halls. The author enlivens the narrative by blending entertaining tales of common folk with the march of epic events and clashes.