John the Painter: Terrorist of the American Revolution

by Jessica Warner

His real name was James Aitken, though he was better known as "John the Painter." During the early months of the American Revolution, he wreaked havoc in England by performing acts of terror on behalf of America. In this first full-length chronicle of the man who attempted to burn down royal navy yards across England, Jessica Warner paints a tart and entertaining portrait of the world's first modern terrorist. At the height of the scare, King George III received daily briefings from his ministers, the Bow Street Runners were on the chase, newspapers printed sensational stories, and in Parliament a bill was rushed through to suspend habeas corpus.

This is rollicking popular history with something for every authentic 18th-century atmosphere, timely social history, international political intrigue, terrorism, chase scenes, spies, a double agent or two, a jailhouse snitch, the king, a young woman innocently tending her sheep . . . and much more.

Genres: History, Biography, American Revolution, Terrorism, Nonfiction, American Revolutionary War

298 pages, Hardcover

First published September 14, 2004

Reviews

[Evan · Rating 1 out of 5]

The worst moment for a reader on vacation is when they finish the last book they packed in their suitcase. That is why they always bring at least half a suitcase full of books, even though they usually only read two or three books each time. It just so happens that during this specific vacation, Evan was not prepared, and did find himself in such self-described first-world-problem.

And it just so happens that the vacation he was a part of was a Caribbean cruise. No bookstore in sight. And so he woke up the next morning and sulkily walked to the advertised library on his cruise ship. His expectations were low. He wasn't looking for Bocaccio, Ovid, or Spencer. Anything written before the last 50 years would do. They must have at least one or two Austen novels. But Evan did not find much anything of note. So he wandered into the history/biography section. Perhaps he could read some biographies of famous people or historical events. Maybe some creative historical nonfiction? Nothing.

In the end, he settled on this title. A book about an early modern terrorist in the Revolutionary War. Or at least that's what it was advertised to be.

In the first chapter you already realize that this book is tragically flawed. The author embarks on a task to write a biography about a person whom they have almost nothing to say about. Most of the book is the author saying that this person “probably” did something because his contemporaries did it. And the author kept repeating the fact that this person was actually not that interesting; a very average young man who did very average things.

The author kept saying that though he was an average person, he had plans and hopes that were above average. And he did attempt to fulfill them, by setting fire to a shipyard in Britain. But he barely succeeded in doing that, with many flaws, and he was caught shortly afterwards.

So much exaggerating in this book to try to make you think that the person you are reading about is worth a book. He is not worth a book.

Evan read up to the last chapter and returned it to the library.

[Igenlode Wordsmith · Rating 4 out of 5]

An impressive achievement of detective work in teasing out the life of a man now sunk in complete obscurity, from what few firm facts are known about his life before he shot to brief notorious obloquy - and was hanged. It's a forgotten crime of a forgotten (because the British lost) war, and the author makes a convincing case in her afterword that Aitken was in fact the first American terrorist, even though she can only guess at why a man whose own sole sojourn in the American colonies had been an ignominious one should have chosen that particular cause to espouse in the first place. The most convincing motive seems to have been simply that, far from being a republican, he thought it would be easier to rise in the American hierarchy than the British, and was trying to curry favour.

The author supplements her definite facts with recourse to general social history and to published accounts from other men who described similar experiences at that era as a bonded labourer in America (of similar status but less worth than the negro slaves alongside whom they toiled, since their owners had paid less for them) or as a felon in jail, as well as plunging into obscure diplomatic correspondence to tease out the various characters with whom Aitken interacted, and what they made of him. It's not historical fiction, but it's vivid extrapolation of events as they happened, traced from the shreds of evidence recorded at the trial along with guesses as to what the people involved might have been motivated and what they thought of him. Where there are multiple conflicting accounts, she notes this, and takes a guess as to the most plausible from provable fact.

The result is a very readable book on a subject that, to me at least, was completely new. My main technical complaint would be that the footnotes are arranged at the end of the book by chapter number, but the running heads on the pages where the references actually occur give only the chapter title, which makes it hard to identify where to find them.

[Lindsay · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had never even heard of John the Painter when I first encountered this book, so between that and my general interest in American Revolutionary history, it seemed like a worthwhile purchase. (Plus I got it half price at one of those warehouse/bargain bookstores.) James Aitken, a.k.a. John the Painter, isn't one of the more notable figures of Revolutionary history, and not much has been written about him. He was a Scot sympathetic to the American cause during the Revolution who attempted to cripple the British navy by burning down five major dockyards across England. Ultimately, he failed in this venture, and was captured and sentenced to hanging. Despite his unremarkableness, I found myself fascinated by his story and Warner's commentary on it.

I really appreciate the way Warner pieces this book together. There aren't many written sources on Aitken other than his court testimony and records of his last days before being hanged, so she had to be creative in order to give a fuller account of his whole life. The book covers Aitken's birth to his death, but his childhood in particular isn't terribly well documented. Warner uses accounts written by other people not necessarily tied to Aitken at all to describe his early life, from the conditions of his home, to his time at school, to the more general experience of growing up in Edinburgh at the time. Warner is careful, however, to make it very clear when she is relaying first-hand documentation versus this second-hand piecing, and because of that it makes it easier to just roll with it and enjoy the narrative.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

Explores the life of a near-forgotten Scottish miscreant, John Aitken, who spread panic in England just before the Revolutionary War with the U.S. Aitken was more of a mischief-maker than a revolutionary, and more of a saboteur than a terrorist, though he did manage to scare the crap out of Bristol and much of the rest of England for a time. Warner is able to dig up only the basics of Aitken's background, and much of the story she tells is obscured by conflicting accounts, but it's still a fascinating tale. More interesting than the story of John's actual deeds is the world of Modern England Warner conjures up, and the everyday life of the English and Scottish underclass, of indentured servants in America and sailors at sea. Wish there'd been a lot more of that.

[Richard Atkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

The central figure of James Aitken, a petty criminal who devoted his hopeless life to the American revolutionary cause, did some slight fire damage to Pompey dockyard and was executed fairly quickly, was a bit slight for a whole book.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed the vivid image Jessica Warner provides of the world Aitken inhabited - the shifting flows of migrant labourers seeking food and security, the highwaymen rotting in their gibbets, the unscrupulous newspaper hacks, the apathetic dockyard workers and their lax superiors desperate to cover their own incompetence. Chose to see the narrative of Aitken's life more as a springboard into a good bit of "history from below", instead of considering the rather pathetic and unappealing figure of much importance in himself.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good account of the life of James Aitken aka John the Painter and other aliases. Aitken,during the American war of Independence, undertook arson campaigns at Portsmouth and Bristol. The story is fascinating and tragic. It was the Bristol connection that attracted me to the book, but it also gave national and international insights as well

[RustyShack · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very early DNF: apathy, uncertainty about why i should care.

[Ian Racey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worth the read. Aitken comes across as a mediocre young man convinced he has a spectacular destiny.

[Stevphen Shukaitis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an excellent, captivating, and well written book. I picked it up the other day on sale and read it in under a day. Warner gives a well documented and investigated account of John the Painter's life and deeds. I read it directly after reading Dan Berg's book on the Weather Underground, and one could, if creative enough, perhaps see some connection between their sabotage oriented propaganda and a sort of lineage coming from John the Painter. Also quite nice about the book is the way that Warner draws out some interesting comparisons between then and now, particularly the way that the Portsmouth and Bristol fires were used to justify the suspension and habeas corpus and other legal rights (in other words, it's not the US who has the first to suspend such in times of danger, real or imagined, and the UK did so before, even if it prides itself on not doing so today, or at least not to the same degree as the US). It is also nice to see someone doing social history / history from below who is interested in their subject, but not totally taken in by it, keeping somewhat of a distance from it at points (which one would one to do with at least certain aspects of John the Painters life even if not others).

[JBP · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty interesting story of a guy dubbed "John the Painter" who was a 25 year old Englishman who decided to start burning down parts of England to help the American war effort. He either wasn't the brightest guy, wasn't all there in the head, pro-American independence or thought he'd be catapulted into the American military as an officer if he could help bring victory to the revolutionaries. Maybe it was all of those things that motivated him. Warner builds the story on not a lot of actual documents regarding John as he's kind of a sketchy historical figure. He came really close to burning down a port and a city and had he succeeded he would have killed more people and caused more destruction and been more memorable. But, his attempts to set fires were largely a failure. An intriguing little book about an unknown part of this war between America and England.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book, if for no other reason it's historical context to today.

Here is the story of the man that might be the first terrorist. He contrives to blow up military facilities, which will probably incur civilian casualties. He uses IED's. He's doing this in the name of revolutionaries fighting an early guerilla war against their government. He gets caught and he's punished in ways that are cruel and unusual.

The funny thing is, it's 1776 and he's doing this in England for the American revolutionaries.

Whatever your views on terrorism, capital punishment and criminal justice, this book will vindicate your beliefs. It's terribly relevant and important. I'd love to see a movie made. The reaction would be entertaining.

[Glenn Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting story about a Scotsman who decided to burn down 5 English Naval Docks on behalf of the English Colonies in America after the start of the Revolution, but succeeded in only burning down a few buildings in a few of the places. John the Painter involved Silas Deane, the Rep in Paris for the Colonies and got the tacit approval, a passport and money. In London, John got involved with the American, Bancroft, who was an undiscovered traitor.

A must read? No, only if you are truly into the Revolutionary War period. Sideline stories of Jefferson learning about this and using the info over Robert Morris's head, helping to destroy Silas Deane and keeping the info on Franklin.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent introduction to 18th century England. Though little is known of James Aitken himself, the book does a credible job of guesstimating his motivations in the light of similar cases more thoroughly covered in the historical record.

[RA · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating story, a little tedious at times, but well-researched.

[Ron Stetson · Rating 2 out of 5]

A second class Scott (in Egland). Tries to destroy the ships docks, so the British could not resupply. It's troops in America in the 1775-1778