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Boston in the American Revolution: A Town versus an Empire
In 1764, a small town in the British colony of Massachusetts ignited a bold rebellion. When Great Britain levied the Sugar Act on its American colonies, Parliament was not prepared for Boston's backlash.
For the next decade, Loyalists and rebels harried one another as both sides revolted and betrayed, punished and murdered. Samuel Adams and John Hancock were reluctant allies. Paul Revere couldn't recognize a traitor in his own inner circle. And George Washington dismissed the efforts of the Massachusetts rebels as unimportant. Historian Brooke Barbier tells the story of how a city radicalized itself against the world's most powerful empire and helped found the United States of America.
For the next decade, Loyalists and rebels harried one another as both sides revolted and betrayed, punished and murdered. Samuel Adams and John Hancock were reluctant allies. Paul Revere couldn't recognize a traitor in his own inner circle. And George Washington dismissed the efforts of the Massachusetts rebels as unimportant. Historian Brooke Barbier tells the story of how a city radicalized itself against the world's most powerful empire and helped found the United States of America.
160 pages, Paperback
Published March 6, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
January 5, 2026
A casual history of Boston in the Revolution which is ideal for those planning historic tourism (there are walking guides for spotlighted sites on the Freedom Trail). Underwhelming for serious history reading.
Longer review for those with attention spans:
As a history-addled child I loved reading about the Revolution, and Boston has inarguable pride of place there. The revolution without Boston is France without Paris. It was there that Hancock, Dr. Warren, and the Adams cousins crafted resentment into rebellion and revolution — there that British soldiers first faced off against their American subjects, and not far from there that the first shots were fired at Lexington and Concord. Boston in the American Revolution is an informal history of the Hub City’s role in the Revolution, one that often addresses the reader directly and ends each chapter with almost a bit of tour-guide content. Photos of the prominent places mentioned are included, with instructions on how to find them and added information like “This isn’t actually where the Boston Massacre happened, but it’s close enough you won’t get run over here.” These highlighted sites are all part of “The Freedom Trail”.
The book is also an anti-mythic history, as it demonstrates that a lot of Boston patriots were…um, a bit unhinged. Not the aforementioned men, but Bostonians had a tendency of clustering into mobs, chasing men they did not like into their homes , throwing whatever they could find at the house and into the windows, and then retreating back into taverns after the object of their rage started shooting at them. We hear in popular stories of the Boston Massacre, but not of the Rope-Makers drama which is almost hysterical: a British soldier inquires at a rope-making place if they need any extra hands, because he’s paid practically nothing; he’s insulted and gets in a fist-fight in with the insulter and loses. He comes back with friends, a brawl ensues, the Brits lose. They come back with dozens of friends, they get in a brawl, they lose. Some of these same rope-makers would be in the Boston Massacre crowd squaring off against and antagonizing British soldiers! The amount of violence leading up to the Revolution — a decade before 1776 — was surprising to me, in part because histories of the Revolution tend to highlight a few key moments and then blur the years together, so that readers are left thinking this was a sudden eruption of conflict, and not a steadily-boiling pot of the same that finally began roiling in 1776. It reminds me a bit of the sectional crisis that came to a head nearly a century later, but which had slowly been percolating since the 1820s. I also found it interesting to learn that part of Britain’s slow resistance to armed rebellion was the fact that Thomas Gage had been under-reporting rebel sentiment for years to make it appear as though he was managing things better than he actually was.
Although the book was quite entertaining, I did raise my eyebrows a few times: the author describes Bunker Hill as the war’s bloodiest battle (…maybe by the rate of British casualties, 40%, but by no other metric), and is ocasionally much too informal, once adding a ‘Meow’ comment to a quotation in which General Washington dismisses the haggard-looking officers of the Continental Army. I could see this working very well for someone who is planning a visit to Boston, and I enjoyed the close focus on the town itself, but I can reccommend it only with caution.
Longer review for those with attention spans:
As a history-addled child I loved reading about the Revolution, and Boston has inarguable pride of place there. The revolution without Boston is France without Paris. It was there that Hancock, Dr. Warren, and the Adams cousins crafted resentment into rebellion and revolution — there that British soldiers first faced off against their American subjects, and not far from there that the first shots were fired at Lexington and Concord. Boston in the American Revolution is an informal history of the Hub City’s role in the Revolution, one that often addresses the reader directly and ends each chapter with almost a bit of tour-guide content. Photos of the prominent places mentioned are included, with instructions on how to find them and added information like “This isn’t actually where the Boston Massacre happened, but it’s close enough you won’t get run over here.” These highlighted sites are all part of “The Freedom Trail”.
The book is also an anti-mythic history, as it demonstrates that a lot of Boston patriots were…um, a bit unhinged. Not the aforementioned men, but Bostonians had a tendency of clustering into mobs, chasing men they did not like into their homes , throwing whatever they could find at the house and into the windows, and then retreating back into taverns after the object of their rage started shooting at them. We hear in popular stories of the Boston Massacre, but not of the Rope-Makers drama which is almost hysterical: a British soldier inquires at a rope-making place if they need any extra hands, because he’s paid practically nothing; he’s insulted and gets in a fist-fight in with the insulter and loses. He comes back with friends, a brawl ensues, the Brits lose. They come back with dozens of friends, they get in a brawl, they lose. Some of these same rope-makers would be in the Boston Massacre crowd squaring off against and antagonizing British soldiers! The amount of violence leading up to the Revolution — a decade before 1776 — was surprising to me, in part because histories of the Revolution tend to highlight a few key moments and then blur the years together, so that readers are left thinking this was a sudden eruption of conflict, and not a steadily-boiling pot of the same that finally began roiling in 1776. It reminds me a bit of the sectional crisis that came to a head nearly a century later, but which had slowly been percolating since the 1820s. I also found it interesting to learn that part of Britain’s slow resistance to armed rebellion was the fact that Thomas Gage had been under-reporting rebel sentiment for years to make it appear as though he was managing things better than he actually was.
Although the book was quite entertaining, I did raise my eyebrows a few times: the author describes Bunker Hill as the war’s bloodiest battle (…maybe by the rate of British casualties, 40%, but by no other metric), and is ocasionally much too informal, once adding a ‘Meow’ comment to a quotation in which General Washington dismisses the haggard-looking officers of the Continental Army. I could see this working very well for someone who is planning a visit to Boston, and I enjoyed the close focus on the town itself, but I can reccommend it only with caution.
April 18, 2024
In previous reviews, I have expressed enthusiasm for history books that focus more heavily on small events that lead up to big events. I mean, the large events of the Revolutionary War are important, but I always revel in hearing in greater detail about how we "suddenly" found ourselves declaring independence and fighting the most powerful empire on the face of the planet. Enter Brooke Barbier…
Ms. Barbier is an historian who focuses the role of Boston in the American Revolution and, in fact, she conducts tours in Boston. Her approach in Boston in the American Revolution is to ask the reader to forget the outcome — which we all obviously know — and to engage the stories as though they had just happened, without the air of inevitability that so many authors seem to find unavoidable.
And so, we get to watch history unfold. We learn about the Sugar Act, the Stamp Act, the Declaratory Act, the Townshend Duties, the Quartering Act, the Boston Massacre, the Tea Act, the Boston Tea Party, the Coercive Acts, Lexington, Concord, Bunker Hill, and Dorchester Heights. We learn how each became a step towards a war that no one expected. More importantly, Ms. Barbier talks about the spaces between the events. Our history classes teach us about these events in a compressed (and inevitable) way, but Ms. Barbier takes the time to discuss why three years passed between the Boston Massacre (1770) and the Boston Tea Party (1773) and why another two years passed until Lexington. There is a lot of "history" in those spaces.
Ms. Barbier also introduces us to a variety of key players. Some are rebels, some are Loyalists, but all are human, deserving of some balance in understanding their motivations and their passions. I appreciated that approach.
Given what I read, I suspect that Ms. Barbier is a fun tour guide. She knows her history. She has a very accessible writing style. She has a quick wit. Reading her book felt like a conversation with a friend… one who shares my passion for understanding the past in ways that go beyond the grand stories. And I suspect that Ms. Barbier shares my conviction that the lead-up to the revolution, most of which happened in Boston, is the most interesting part of the story. As such, she is someone I will keep my eye on.
Ms. Barbier is an historian who focuses the role of Boston in the American Revolution and, in fact, she conducts tours in Boston. Her approach in Boston in the American Revolution is to ask the reader to forget the outcome — which we all obviously know — and to engage the stories as though they had just happened, without the air of inevitability that so many authors seem to find unavoidable.
And so, we get to watch history unfold. We learn about the Sugar Act, the Stamp Act, the Declaratory Act, the Townshend Duties, the Quartering Act, the Boston Massacre, the Tea Act, the Boston Tea Party, the Coercive Acts, Lexington, Concord, Bunker Hill, and Dorchester Heights. We learn how each became a step towards a war that no one expected. More importantly, Ms. Barbier talks about the spaces between the events. Our history classes teach us about these events in a compressed (and inevitable) way, but Ms. Barbier takes the time to discuss why three years passed between the Boston Massacre (1770) and the Boston Tea Party (1773) and why another two years passed until Lexington. There is a lot of "history" in those spaces.
Ms. Barbier also introduces us to a variety of key players. Some are rebels, some are Loyalists, but all are human, deserving of some balance in understanding their motivations and their passions. I appreciated that approach.
Given what I read, I suspect that Ms. Barbier is a fun tour guide. She knows her history. She has a very accessible writing style. She has a quick wit. Reading her book felt like a conversation with a friend… one who shares my passion for understanding the past in ways that go beyond the grand stories. And I suspect that Ms. Barbier shares my conviction that the lead-up to the revolution, most of which happened in Boston, is the most interesting part of the story. As such, she is someone I will keep my eye on.
July 15, 2025
Another excellent history book by Barbier. Boston was the center of pre – revolutionary anti – British activity and this book chronicles that activity. Important Founders such as John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Paul Revere, and many lesser-known personages were involved. This was also a time of vital historical events such as the Boston Massacre and the Boston Tea Party. All this is very well laid out here.
Barbier is an outstanding writer, in my opinion, she writes better than authors of many other history books. The narrative here is clear, logical, easy to follow and a pleasure to read.
The biggest shortcoming is the book’s length. Without notes it is only a hair longer than 200 pages. More detail would have helped this book. Another 80 or so pages would have made for a better-rounded history.
Despite this, the history of Boston during this era is vital for anyone who wants to understand the origins of the American Revolution. This book does an admirable job of relating that history.
Barbier is an outstanding writer, in my opinion, she writes better than authors of many other history books. The narrative here is clear, logical, easy to follow and a pleasure to read.
The biggest shortcoming is the book’s length. Without notes it is only a hair longer than 200 pages. More detail would have helped this book. Another 80 or so pages would have made for a better-rounded history.
Despite this, the history of Boston during this era is vital for anyone who wants to understand the origins of the American Revolution. This book does an admirable job of relating that history.
October 4, 2018
In a breezy, chatty style, Barbier describes events and people in Boston from 1763 to 1775, and how this little city made a large, noisy, passionate, (and often violent and drunk) contribution to the lead-up of the American Revolution.
She takes what is often presented as dry, inevitable historical facts and shows how exciting and uncertain events were as they took place, making all the players in the action relatable and human, rather than the stiff, unapproachable portraits we are shown in school today.
Barbier is (obviously) biased, but she matter-of-factly lists everyone's flaws (like, you know, the racism, sexism, etc.) but makes no apologies for what some might call the cheating (firing on the officers!), indeed, she often gleefully describes events as if recounting a particularity rough Red Sox or Patriots game.
A gem of a book that will make the history spring to life, I highly recommend to anyone who wants to learn more about the details of what came before the Declaration of Independence.
September 25, 2020
Written by the founder of Ye Olde Tavern Tours in Boston, who has a PhD in history. A concise history of the American Revolution from the view of events in and around Boston. Quite interesting, with pictures of the Freedom Trail spots and places to see with an explanation of the pictures interspersed with the events of the Revolution. Very good for a tour of Boston, Cambridge, Lexington and Charlestown as related to the Revolution and quite interesting to see locations in modern Boston. Includes portraits of some of the leading characters and pictures and etchings of the events.
A good read...not overly technical or too crammed with things that make it an effort to keep up with what's going on.
A good read...not overly technical or too crammed with things that make it an effort to keep up with what's going on.
June 23, 2018
Short and sweet, and a book that starts strong. My one complaint was that it didn't conclude with the strength it started with, as it sort of trailed off, but still, it was quite fun, and a nice succinct rundown of Boston in the American Revolution. I appreciated the chatty but still professional profiles of the various major players, the quick notes on sites to visit today, and the good use of images throughout. Definitely not a deep dive book, but manages to cover a lot of ground for such a small book.
June 16, 2019
This is not a major work, but it's not intended to be. Instead, the author gives us a relatively short and smart review of Boston's years-long struggle against mother country. I liked her style, although some might find it to be a bit too loose at times. A combination history/tour guide, this is a handy book to back in your bag for your next trip to Boston. One shortcoming: Needs a modern map pinpointing the places mentioned in the narrative.
January 1, 2023
Much shorter than the average history brick, this book is a good length for the mildly curious, the casual historian, the background-intense trip planner and many others.
April 9, 2020
I've had this book on my "to read" list for some time now after taking one of Brooke Barbier's Ye Olde Tavern Tours in 2017. These tours are an excellent outing for anyone interested in Boston's Revolutionary War history as well as local craft beers, as the tour combines visits to historic sites on the Freedom Trail with stops at a few watering holes for a few brews.
Barbier's book takes the same casual tone found in her tours and subsequent one-off podcast series, and its brief length makes it easy to read in a few sittings. She does an excellent job of tracing Boston's rebellious acts and British responses to the outbreak of hostilities, ending the narrative with the departure of British troops in March 1776. Readers also get detailed biographies of important personalities and helpful "Past to Present" sections detailing the fate of historic locations.
As for shortcomings, the narrative sometimes gets a little too casual (such as when Barbier follows a catty quote from George Washington with "Meow"). It also feels a little rushed in some areas; in particular, the remarkable story of how the siege of Boston was broken is given rather cursory attention.
Overall, a nice summary of Boston's history up to and including the Revolutionary War, and a good way to support Ye Olde Tavern Tours if you find yourself booking this endeavor.
Barbier's book takes the same casual tone found in her tours and subsequent one-off podcast series, and its brief length makes it easy to read in a few sittings. She does an excellent job of tracing Boston's rebellious acts and British responses to the outbreak of hostilities, ending the narrative with the departure of British troops in March 1776. Readers also get detailed biographies of important personalities and helpful "Past to Present" sections detailing the fate of historic locations.
As for shortcomings, the narrative sometimes gets a little too casual (such as when Barbier follows a catty quote from George Washington with "Meow"). It also feels a little rushed in some areas; in particular, the remarkable story of how the siege of Boston was broken is given rather cursory attention.
Overall, a nice summary of Boston's history up to and including the Revolutionary War, and a good way to support Ye Olde Tavern Tours if you find yourself booking this endeavor.
September 13, 2017
If you have any interest in the beginnings of the American Revolutionary War, this book is for you. This small book examines the pivotal role of Boston personalities Sam and John Adams, Joseph Warren, and John Hancock, and the important part Boston interests and conflicts played in setting up and beginning the Revolution. The author has the talent of recognizing and narrating the interesting details that make history real. The narrative moves quickly and smoothly, highlighting and clarifying the events that set in motion this fascinating and important moment in history. The book includes good portraits of the most important historical figures and also pictures the relevant Boston landmarks, telling the role they played in the 1770's and what has happened to them since, very useful for those of us looking forward to a visit to Boston.
July 19, 2024
It was very enjoyable to read this book. If you are a fan of United States history, American Revolutionary history, Boston history, or just history in general, it is a good, short summary of what happened in Boston in the 1760s and 1770s, providing excellent detail, fun anecdotes, and a few funny side notes. The author (Brooke Barbier) also added pictures and descriptions of the important locations and said what happened to some key players after the American Revolution. I would recommend this book to others.
June 4, 2023
It’s a five-star book for basic historical tourism. The author has a clear and clever voice that comes through well. If, like me, you wanted a light yet insightful read on revolutionary Boston to help you appreciate the city as a tourist, this is a great choice.
November 7, 2023
I picked up this book from the shop of the Boston Tea Party Ships Museum. It’s a great accompaniment to dig into local history a bit deeper. I enjoyed the author’s accessible, interesting way of exploring the history of Boston and its key citizens. Definitely recommended!
January 19, 2024
If you're looking for a quick easy read on Boston's part in the American Revolution then this is your book. It's informative with a touch of humor at times. I very much enjoyed this, and now am eager to plan my next trip to Boston.
October 19, 2017
Great book for anyone interested in Boston's history and role in the revolution. The author's writing style makes it informative while still bring conversational and interesting.
September 4, 2023
Reading about colonial Boston's unruly mobs and bursting a blood vessel thinking of how conservatives react to peaceful protestors blocking traffic 🙃
August 23, 2018
Great Historical Overview
A wonderful and informative read. Helped me overcome a very reductionist view of the revolutionary war. Inspiring to rediscover the birth of our nation.
A wonderful and informative read. Helped me overcome a very reductionist view of the revolutionary war. Inspiring to rediscover the birth of our nation.
September 1, 2021
Well done
Easy read of many of Boston's revolutionary sites. Excellent context & chronological relevance. I've spent a great deal of time in Boston and really enjoyed this book.
Easy read of many of Boston's revolutionary sites. Excellent context & chronological relevance. I've spent a great deal of time in Boston and really enjoyed this book.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews