Paul Revere and the World He Lived In

by Esther Forbes

Paul Revere was more than a figure on horseback, more than a great silversmith, bell caster, powder maker & shrewd leader of Boston's artisans. He was the handyman of the Revolution. He helped to plant the tree of liberty, & lived to enjoy its fruits.
Acknowledgments
Illustrations
1715-35
1735-56
1756-64
1764-69
1770-73
1773-75
1775
1776-79
1779-92
1792-1818
Notes
Genealogical Data
Bibliography
Index

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

464 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1942

About the author

Esther Forbes was born in Westboro, Massachusetts in 1891, as the youngest of five children. Her family roots can be traced back to 1600s America; one of her great-uncles was the great historical figure and leader of the Sons of Liberty, Sam Adams. Her father was a probate judge in Worcester and her mother, a writer of New England reference books. Both her parents were historical enthusiasts.

Even as a little child, Forbes displayed an affinity for writing. Her academic work, however, was not spectacular, except for a few writing classes. After finishing high school, she took classes at the Worcester Art Museum and Boston University, and later, Bradford Academy, a junior college. She then followed her sister to the University of Wisconsin where Forbes wrote extensively for the Wisconsin Literary Magazine. After developing her writing skills, she returned to Massachusetts where she began working for Boston's Houghton Mifflin. As a reader of manuscripts, Forbes used this experience to advance her own writing career. Her first novel, O Genteel Lady! was published in 1926 to critical praise. With its selection by the newly formed Book-of-the-Month Club, the novel gained popular appeal as well. That year, Forbes also married Albert L. Hoskins, Jr., a Harvard Law School student.

As Forbes continued to write and gain notoriety, her marriage suffered because her husband disapproved of her career. They divorced in 1933. After several other novels, Forbes began her research of Paul Revere with her mother, who was then in her mid-eighties. When the historical biography, Paul Revere and the World He Lived In won the Pulitzer Prize in History, Forbes recognized her mother's immense contributions. During the process of researching Paul Revere, Forbes became fascinated with the large role young apprentices played in the war. Thus, she wrote Johnny Tremain, a historical novel of a young boy growing up in the time of the Revolutionary War. With poignant character development and a keen sense of history, it contained the elements for lasting popularity. It was published as "A Novel for Old and Young." In 1944, it won the Newberry Award, the top award for children's literature and became an instant children's classic. Forbes continued to turn out award winning books, most notably, The Running of the Tide, which was commissioned as a movie but never filmed. While working on a book about witchcraft in seventeenth-century Massachusetts, she died in 1967 of rheumatic heart disease.

Forbes literary achievements, awards, and recognition speak for themselves in regards her place in letters. Johnny Tremain is still read widely in schools and its popularity makes it one of the few lasting classics of American children literature.

Reviews

[Mary Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Listen, my children, and you shall hear...
I have many 5-star books on my shelf, and this one easily joins them. Paul Revere was a remarkable man of great integrity and many talents. I didn't know, for example, that he learned how to be a foundryman from a visiting Frenchman and cast many long-tolling Boston church bells, or that he figured out how to "roll" the copper sheeting used on the USS Constitution and on the Massachusetts State House dome. He was primarily a silversmith, and yes, he did dabble in dentistry, even in forensic dentistry, but he did not make George Washington's dentures.

This is a book to savor. I have never read a work of history that so thoroughly immersed me in the time period. Esther Forbes brings the past to vibrant life-- I loved her descriptions of, for example, the smells of Boston in the 1770s, and the surprising cultural changes that occurred after the Revolutionary War (for the first time in history, young women began to be chaperoned!). Her writing is passionate, her research impeccable. She sets straight all the myths about Paul Revere's legendary ride of April 18, 1775, that were perpetuated for centuries in Longfellow's poem.

Here is a passage that I'll refer to again and again:

"So away, down the moonlit road, goes Paul Revere and the Larkin horse, galloping into history, art, editorials, folklore, poetry; the beat of those hooves never to be forgotten... Paul Revere had started on a ride which, in a way, has never ended."

And I used to think history was boring!

[Luisa Knight · Rating 4 out of 5]

Esther Forbes writes well and with a pleasant narrative; as proven by her winning the Pulitzer Prize for this work, and a Newbery Medal for Johnny Tremain.

This book is a detailed and thorough account of Paul Revere, his family and friends, and the times and towns he lived in. It’s a good resource to have in your home library, with only those historical nerds (such as yours truly) wishing to read through it entirely.

I thought it a fantastic read in preparation for my Boston trip - there’s great city history and fun facts throughout!

See what else I read for the trip: watch my reel!

Ages: 14+

Content Considerations: the word “d*mn” is quoted several times. Blasphemy is quoted a couple of times. Mentions drunks, drinking and smoking. Mentions town riots, tar and feathering and other violent acts, all fairly mildly. References a couple suicides. Mentions a few affairs/scandals but without string detail.

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[Pamela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent history by Esther Forbes in this 1943 Pulitzer Prize-winning biography of Revolutionary War hero Paul Revere. If your main knowledge of Revere comes from Longfellow's famous poem, then you're in for a real treat with this book. Besides his midnight ride, Paul Revere accomplished so much more for his young country. He actually served as an officer in the Navy in Massachusetts and after the war began to develop a much needed heavy industry in New England by starting first an iron foundry and eventually casting the majority of bells used in the early days of the country. A handful are still in existence today. The same can be said of the Revere Copper industries which also still exist today. In 1800, Paul Revere developed the process of rolling copper in sheets that let him cover the domes of several State buildings and protect the USS Constitution (Old Ironsides) and other ships of the day. This made the newly built U.S. Navy independent of importing these materials from Great Britain. Of course, first and foremost, he was known as the best silversmith of his age.

While telling the life of Paul Revere, Ms. Forbes does a most interesting job of describing the times he lived in and the relationships he had with other great names from this period. She presents a clear picture of Boston and the day to day events that led to the War, occurred during it, and changed the city afterward. More than just a history, this is a slice of life as it was experienced by a city central to the events and its inhabitants as they go about their everyday affairs. Affairs that turned out to be extraordinary.

[Anne London · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was an incredibly interesting and well-documented historical view of Paul Revere and others from his era. Many primary sources were used and the author was honest if they weren't.

I must admit to finding it somewhat tedious only because I felt the need to further research people, phrases, items, traditions, etc...that I had not heard of before or didn't know much about.

Did you know that Paul Revere only made it as far as Lexington and never arrived in Concord? Did you know that he gave the order for the lamps to be hung in the church and that they weren't hung for him to see but for someone else on the other side of the river who he had waiting?

Did you know that he housed a pregnant lady in his home who was carrying an illegitimate child until she gave birth? Did you know that he paid for the care/treatment of his former son-in-law who was mentally ill (his own family wouldn't) and raised his three children (his daughter had died)?

I found Mr. Revere to be an extremely intelligent, hard-working, industrious, creative, warm, loving, family-oriented, patriot. I'm thankful for the opportunity to get to know him :).

[Eric Abels · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Stars. Very well researched.

[Leah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm having a hard time getting my thoughts together to write a review for this rather large book. I thoroughly enjoyed this journey through the Revolutionary Period in America. The book starts off with a little bit about Paul Revere's father, Apollos, who was sent to America from France at the age of 13 in 1715 and ends with Revere's death in 1818.

I learned so much from this Pulitzer prize winning biography published in 1942. I highly recommend it. One of the highlights was when I was reading about how Revere placed a silver plate under the cornerstone of the Massachusetts State House on the 4th of July, 1795 amid great pomp and circumstance. He also gave a formal speech during the ceremony. Well, suddenly I started thinking "cornerstone, time capsule, I've seen something about one being unearthed recently" so I looked it up and sure enough in January of this year (2015) the time capsule had been removed during repairs and the contents revealed 220 years after being placed there. That gave me quite a thrill after being so immersed in his life for the last few weeks.

Revere was a very enterprising man and he undertook to learn several trades that few, if any, people in America knew how to do at the time. For instance, dentistry, casting bells and cannons, forging copper bolts and spikes, and rolling copper for copper sheathing on ships and buildings(which venture he put every cent he had into and learned at the age of 65). Most of these crafts he learned turned out to be profitable. It seems he could do just about anything he put his mind to. He was very intelligent. One contemporary of his said that he "found Mr. Revere the only man (in America) in 1794 who appeared to know anything of the discrimination between ores and the seven metals."

He was a hard-working, industrious, and generous man. Throughout the book I kept thinking of how he reminded me of my husband, so it kind of tickled me when I saw a quote of his in which he misspelled a word that my husband always misspells in the exact same way.

Revere had 8 children by his first wife and 8 more by his second wife. Of these 16 children only 5 outlived him. He was a loving father and used to call his children his lambs. He was also a kind husband. I liked this quote from one of his letters to his second wife, Rachel: "I trust that Allwise Being who has protected me will still protect me, and send me safely to the Arms of her whom it is my greatest happiness to call my own." There was so much more to his life than just that famous "midnight ride".

Content warning: some d's and a couple h's. The d's are mostly in quotes from British officers talking about the d---ed rebels.

This fulfilled the popsugar challenge to read a book with 500 or more pages.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Forbes is an excellent writer on Revolutionary times. This, I believe her 1st non-fiction book about that era, is just as captivating as the YA novels she has written. The characters come alive in a way that few other history books can make happen.

I am especially taken with her explanations of Boston-then vs. Boston-now. I like hearing specific things about the city I lived in for 10 years like "the British set sail from the corner of Boylston and Charles Streets" which of course was then under water before the landfill projects that changed the entire physicality of the city. She's pretty clear about whose houses were where and what took over that spot as the city changed over 200 years. I love that stuff. Eat it up. And it's even more fun to decipher the maps within the front and back covers (difficult, because someone who owned my copy before the junk store I bought it from put their "Ex Libris" sticker right over Somerville, grr...) and see how the city has changed even more since the book was written in 1942.

She's also great at what I like to call the "If Only Quotient". She lays things out. If only the winter had been colder in 1774-75, the Charles would have frozen solid and the farmers from Medford/Cambridge/Lexington might have swarmed the city and taken over. Instead it stayed liquid and the fighting had to wait until April. If only that ensign hadn't fallen on his way to that rally, he would have arrived with his egg in tact and thrown it at Joseph Warren, thus giving the signal for the British soldiers to capture Warren, Hancock and Sam Adams. They were supposed to be arrested that night and sent to London to stand trial for treason, most likely hanged, and here would our little fledgling country be then? Instead, he slipped on the ice, cracked the egg and dislocated his knee. No signal from him and the British troops in the crowd stayed their ground.

What's not so good is some of the blatant contradictions of dates. Some of that is confusing and annoying, making me wish I had easier access to internet at the moment to cross-check some facts.

If you want a good read about the human side of history though, this is an awesome book.

[Ryan · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was fine with the antiquated language and the lack of fluid narrative. But when Forbes got to the ride, I had to stop. Not sure when we found out about about Dawes and Prescott and the however many other riders, but it wasnt found here in 1942. Nor was the issue of Revere getting caught. And there were way too many 'he could have's and probably might haves' in this book.

"On Sunday, probably starting before light, Paul Revere made this trip seemingly without undue haste or incident."
"So the statesmen got their warning and Paul Revere may have had a very good chance to watch the three-cornered courtship or Sam Adams's mounting confidence. He may have ridden over to Concord himself, for the town was warned that day."

And then he apparently sailed back to Boston to alert civilians about the 2 lanterns in the North Church steeple versus before taking off on the ride. I'm no expert but I'm fairly certain after the capture, he walked back to Lexington and caught the end of the battle there. Either everything I've been taught is wrong or Forbes knew something nobody else did. I'm going to chalk it up to a dated book but it makes me question everything in this now.

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Paul Revere and the World he Lived in is exactly what the title implies. It is not quite a biography, although it does follow Paul from birth to death. It is not quite a history, though it does describe the era along with its famous inhabitants, its lifestyles, its politics. In the 1940s, this book won a Pulitzer Prize and it is easy to see why. This is an accessible book, easy to read, easy to understand, full of well-drawn, interesting personages, set in a fascinating era. Coming as it did in the midst of World War II, there is an undeniable patriotic spin to the proceedings, but this is not propaganda.
Paul Revere was an artisan, not an intellectual, and didn’t leave behind voluminous diaries or memoirs. Instead, Forbes had to rely on secondary sources, birth records, paintings, correspondence. When she must resort to speculation, she admits it freely, explaining her reasoning.
This is a well-rounded and enjoyable history book.

[Michele · Rating 5 out of 5]

Esther Forbes wrote the novel "Johnny Tremaine" which used to be practically required reading in New England for decades, and was turned into a truly crap movie by Disney in the early 60s. She also wrote this Pulitzer-prize-winning history of the colonial and Revolutionary era, focusing on Paul Revere as her main subject but reaching into the back stories and biographies of many other players. A delight to read, it will not fail to stir patriotism in even the most jaded hearts.

[Josette · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me months to get through this book, but by this time, Paul Revere was starting to feel like an old friend and I was disappointed to finish (he died!) I knew almost nothing about this man save his immortal, historic ride, but Forbes' carefully researched book brought him to life. A generous, hard-working, loyal man's man, yet still a family man, Revere is a patriot we can be proud of.

[Raymond Hwang · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful perspective of telling the story of the American Revolution and Boston and a man who was bigger than a ride into history. Esther Forbes weaves the contributions of a silversmith on the founding of the U.S. and then how he continued to make contributions to his country and to Boston. She has researched and written a wonderful book.

[Cherie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Paul Revere was Everyman before, during and after the American Revolution. I loved the way Esther Forbes revealed this charming, energetic, loyal, creative, generous, resourceful, loving, brave, entrepreneurial, plain-spoken man. It is a shame that the most we know about this person is a poetic account of one famous ride. In fact, he was an indispensable part of the communication and intelligence network of the revolutionaries for a decade leading up to and including the active war. He rode dozens of times from Boston for long nighttime miles, eluding British troops, including rides to Philadelphia and New York.

Revere was a second generation American. His father, Apollos Rivoire, was from France. Forbes uses every imaginable source to flesh out every detail of life in 1700s Boston, silversmithing, the Sons of Liberty, the Redcoats and the British king during Revere’s childhood and youth, fully formed personalities and deeds of all the major Revolutionary players in Boston (Sam Adams, Joseph Warren, James Otis, John Hancock, John Adams, the Quincys, the Hutchinsons, General Gage and more), Revere’s many deeds and ventures. It is not hyperbole to say the book is exhaustive. Yet it is engaging. I often said to my husband while reading this marvelous book, “Did you know. . .?”

To support himself and his growing family during lean times, Revere ventured into engraving, printing, dentistry, shopkeeping as well as continuing with silversmithing.

The colonials had very little gunpowder and didn’t know how to make it. Revere did the research and created the first powder mill in New England.

He built a foundry and made the first bell cast in Boston. He eventually made nearly 400 bells and outfitted ships with “bolts, spikes, cogs, braces, pintles, sheaves, pumps etc.” He cast and sold tools and implements of every sort to the general public for a long time.

The nascent US navy needed copper cladding for its ships. So at the age of 65 Revere “discovers the secret of rolling copper and establishes a great industry. He sheathes the Constitution, the State House dome, and many ships.”

At the age of 80, during the War of 1812, Paul Revere rallied the men of Boston to build a defense in the bay against the British navy, wielding a shovel himself. This book won the Pulitzer Prize in 1942. It must have been a great rallying force itself in World War II.

This book is so dense and big it took me about 7 months to finish it while reading other books that I could carry with me. It was so worth it. 5 stars.

[Esmel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good biography of Paul Revere, but contains much more. The books is as much about Paul Revere as it is about Boston and it's people. Perhaps this is because there was not a lot of source material on Paul Revere. His early life is definitely depicted in what life was for most people of the time and less about his life. The details are a bit sketchy, so the author tries to fill in the blanks. His later life has more details because Paul Revere grew his business and corresponded more. The author does spend a lot of time detailing Boston and it's famous people like John Hancock and Sam Adams. Important people to be sure as Paul Revere knew these people and interacted with them. His life was much more significant than his single ride at the start of the American Revolution. For that I am glad to have learned more.

The author's language and writing tends toward a type of romanticism. Modern readers might miss the realism that used in modern biographies. I think she did the best she could with what was available to her. It did make for a difficult read in parts because the overall story dragged in its pacing. There are no updated biographies on Paul Revere that I could find. It might be time for an update, though the overall book will be slimmer than Esther Forbes edition.

[Adam Chandler · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great and readable reference for the life of Paul Revere and the various aspects of the American Revolution (background, enactment, and resolution). The only issue is that the book balances both of these things. Looking to it for a biography of Revere will yield many sidetracks into other things (losing the forest for the trees at times) while those interested in the American Revolution will see it concentrating too much on Revere who is not as major of a figure as, say, Franklin or Washington (however, Sam Adams comes up fairly often since he knew Revere). There is a fair amount of detail. Revere is the son of Protestant French immigrants to the Thirteen Colonies who establishes himself as an artisan, working in silver and occasionally other metals, who indulges in other practices like dentistry. He gets involved with many figures who desire emancipation from British rule and thus finds himself involved in the American Revolution, hence his famous ride in the night. Following the war, Revere returned to his businesses (which makes sense given the Revolution started in part due to championing American economic flourishing) and raising his family.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

If Boston during the Revolutionary war is your cup of tea, this brilliant historical bio is a must read. Forbes covers the multi-talented and highly successful Revere—a man of courage, integrity, and business sense, also a family man and good friend and a political radical. Just as interesting is the stage on which his life plays out—Boston in the 1770s, which is no mere backdrop but a major character in this lively history. We see the Massacre and the Tea Party in vivid detail. We witness the tension between the locals and the English forces, and we gain insight into how the Sons of Liberty orchestrated the revolt through months of late night meetings in closed offices and taverns, with Sam Adams and John Hancock leading the way. Forbes is a natural storyteller and she makes history come to life in this richly detailed historical biography.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

While ostensibly a biography of Paul Revere, this work is so much more. It avoids the trap of some biographies to fall into a dry recitation of facts, and instead managers to bring the 18th century to life. Author Esther Forbes deftly weaves proven facts about Revere with what is known about life in Boston at that time period. She describes the famous - and even the less-famous - names of the day so that they become real people, not just historical figures. Daily life in Boston is recounted, including what would have been seen in local shops, what Revere's father's shop would have been like, probably relationships between residents, etc. So much more than a history book, this one reads more like a historical novel; bonus points that it's all true!

[E B · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a rather slow book, but an excellent book never-the-less. The plot is clearly about Paul Revere, but you really learn new tidbits about the Colonies at that time (both pre and post Revolution {or Civil War; depending on who you ask). I honestly found Paul Revere to be a rather unremarkable character in the grand scheme of things, something that the author attests towards the end of the book.

The history and where his family came from and the self-made-man nature of where he took his life and how overwhelmingly generous he appears to have been was quite a welcoming read compared to most who have books written about them. Most famous people tend to have dark secrets which creep out to spoil our views of them, but now Paul Revere.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

In one word, charming. Published in 1942 in the midst of a war that keeps creeping in around the edges, this book is in some ways sweetly vintage and genteel, and yet, it is still a remarkable work of scholarship. The title is no exaggeration: this really is an exploration of Paul Revere's whole life, with full context and background. Forbes drew on many contemporary primary sources to people the book with Revere's friends, family, and neighbors; with the local characters and notable events.

The style might throw some off; it has more the tone of a storybook than a serious biography, but those who would dismiss it for such are missing a treat.

[Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is truly a full and highly detailed look at the life of Paul Revere a man best remembered by most people for his one night ride in 1775. I particularly enjoyed hearing about the Sons of Liberty Days leading up to the Revolution. The true story of what happened on his famous ride and how he spent his time during the Revolution. There are lots of details and some of them probably could have been omitted to make it more readable especially some of the engraving/silversmith details.

[Rachel G · Rating 4 out of 5]

Esther Forbes does a fantastic job of depicting life in Paul Revere’s era. I really got a sense of what Boston was like in that period. Plus it was like an American Revolution history refresher class.
•
When we were actually in Boston, I loved seeing the places I had been reading about; Old South Meeting House, the old State House, the site of the Boston Massacre.... we were even able to visit the Lexington Green, where Paul Revere witnessed “the shot heard ‘round the world”.

[Marie Carmean · Rating 5 out of 5]

This stunning book is a must-read for all interested in our country's history! Not only does Esther Forbes present a thorough and fascinating biography of Paul Revere, she also gives the reader an in-depth look at the colonial years leading up to the Revolution and the Revolution itself as well as many years after. An excellent book. One of the best history/biography books I have ever read about this period. This is a Pulitzer Prize winner, and a genuine treasure.

[Dianeh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would give this book a 10!! This book covers the life of Paul Revere. It covers his personality, adventures, work and influence. It covers so many of his contemporaries as well. The author describes the times, clothing, homes, celebrations and foods. It is a very comprehensive text! I feel like I know Paul Revere personally! He lived in an unprecedented time and lived to match it. If you like reading about the American Revolution and Colonial period this book is for you!!!

[Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

There seems to be no doubt as to the immense amount of research Ms Forbes assimilated for this endeavor but some of the minutiae could have been omitted. I would have enjoyed a few more descriptions of the dress, furniture, and modes of entertainments but this is after all the story of Paul Revere and not a history of the time. All in all, well worth the hours spent reading and learning.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Her fiction is much better. Informative, but too much "he might have" or "he could have" for my taste. I would prefer the speculations to remain in fiction. But a good view of Boston before, during, and after the Revolution. She paints Revere as a true hero, but more importantly a good and honest and hard-working man.

[Bruce Cowan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Published in 1942, I imagine there were thousands of soldiers, sailors, marines and army air force personnel, serving in WWII, turning the pages of this exceptional book during their down time.
Ester Forbes made a monumental effort with her research and for very good reason was awarded with the Pulitzer. This is a book I'll be recommending and passing along for years to come.

[Marianne Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first, I didn't see this book as a page turner. But I soon realized that I learned something new and interesting on every page. Page after page, they turned more quickly. I can easily see a current history writer like Chernow or Erik Larsen reading this one book and rewriting it into a new best seller.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't finish the book because it was more than enough history for me, but what I read was very clearly written. Forbes brings you into 18th century Boston society as if she lived there. She tells the story through real people doing their jobs, socializing, living their lives. And she describes the political moods of the time in very down to earth easy to read prose.

[Ginny Erisman · Rating 4 out of 5]

History. Interesting that Boston was originally about a third or a quarter of the size it is now, and it was on a tiny peninsula. Beacon Hill cut down to build up land.

[Daniel Roth · Rating 5 out of 5]

A superb book! If you never knew much about Paul Revere this book will tell it all, in detail. Plus you get a look into early colonial Boston.