Ted Reinstein, a longtime reporter for WCVB’s “Chronicle,’’ began collecting stories of New England feuds years ago, while working on “New England Notebook: One Reporter, Six States, Uncommon Stories,’’ his first book. He found so many, in fact, that the chapter grew too long and was cut out entirely. “And then it was sort of sitting there,’’ said Reinstein, a bunch of great stories waiting for the time he could add enough for another book.

That book is “Wicked Pissed: New England’s Most Famous Feuds,’’ which delves into battles that have raged over which New Haven pizzeria serves the best pie, which clam shack on Route 133 fries the best mollusk, and which town, Concord or Lexington, is “the actual birthplace of American liberty.’’

Some of the conflicts are amusing or just plain bizarre; one of Reinstein’s favorites is the State of Connecticut’s contrarian stance over who can claim the status of first in flight. Everyone outside the Nutmeg State knows it’s the Wright Brothers; folks in Connecticut are equally certain it’s a German-born Bridgeport engineer named Gustave Whitehead. Others — especially those involving painfully public family feuds — can be wrenching to read about.

So why is New England prone to feuds, anyway? “I think New Englanders are very conscious, very proud, very attached to their history,’’ Reinstein said. Many feuds, he added, stem from “a sense of owning the history, getting credit for what’s theirs.’’

There’s also a regional propensity for digging in, Reinstein added, mentioning a man he knows whose family name still adorns the place — Breed’s Hill — where the so-called Battle of Bunker Hill actually took place. “He still feels compelled,’’ Reinstein said, “if he hears somebody talking about Bunker Hill, to say, ‘You know, it wasn’t actually fought on Bunker Hill.’ ’’

Reinstein will read Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the Canton Public Library, 786 Washington St., Canton.

Kate Tuttle, a writer and editor, can be reached at kate.tuttle@gmail.com.