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Boston’s Massacre
On the night of March 5, 1770, British soldiers fired into a crowd gathered in front of Boston s Custom House, killing five people. Denounced as an act of unprovoked violence and villainy, the event that came to be known as the Boston Massacre is one of the most familiar incidents in American history, yet one of the least understood. Eric Hinderaker revisits this dramatic episode, examining in forensic detail the facts of that fateful night, the competing narratives that molded public perceptions at the time, and the long campaign afterward to transform the tragedy into a touchstone of American identity.
When Parliament stationed two thousand British troops in Boston beginning in 1768, resentment spread rapidly among the populace. Steeped in traditions of self-government and famous for their Yankee independence, Bostonians were primed to resist the imposition. Living up to their reputation as Britain s most intransigent North American community, they refused compromise and increasingly interpreted their conflict with Britain as a matter of principle. Relations between Britain and the North American colonies deteriorated precipitously after the shooting at the Custom House, and it soon became the catalyzing incident that placed Boston in the vanguard of the Patriot movement.
Fundamental uncertainties about the night s events cannot be resolved. But the larger significance of the Boston Massacre extends from the era of the American Revolution to our own time, when the use of violence in policing crowd behavior has once again become a pressing public issue.
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When Parliament stationed two thousand British troops in Boston beginning in 1768, resentment spread rapidly among the populace. Steeped in traditions of self-government and famous for their Yankee independence, Bostonians were primed to resist the imposition. Living up to their reputation as Britain s most intransigent North American community, they refused compromise and increasingly interpreted their conflict with Britain as a matter of principle. Relations between Britain and the North American colonies deteriorated precipitously after the shooting at the Custom House, and it soon became the catalyzing incident that placed Boston in the vanguard of the Patriot movement.
Fundamental uncertainties about the night s events cannot be resolved. But the larger significance of the Boston Massacre extends from the era of the American Revolution to our own time, when the use of violence in policing crowd behavior has once again become a pressing public issue.
"
350 pages, Hardcover
Published March 5, 2017
17 people are currently reading
145 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
August 6, 2017
Terrific! Hinderaker evaluates all the eyewitness and news reports at the time for validity and his recounting and analysis is exhaustive! He follows threads that I know drove some reviewers crazy, but his obsessive impulse pays off. He shows how these sometimes conflicting views were used by to created a narrative
January 22, 2020
Fantastic book for the upcoming 250th Anniversary of the Massacre. Great synopsis of some of the classic works over the years, setting the wider narrative very effectively. Joseph Warren gets some updated coverage, mostly referencing a solid biography from 1961.
August 24, 2025
This was a good book. I learned a lot of interesting details. The Boston Massacre is still taught as a pivotal moment in the American Revolution.
June 2, 2022
My feelings are mixed. I bought the book in a trip to Boston, knowing close to zero not only for the Boston Massacre but more in general for the American history during this period.
The book is a strange melange of event description, presentation of testimonies, a display of the historical context before and after bringing a short parallelism with much later events and their possible interconnection.
Have I learned anything reading the book? Yes. At the same time though, I felt sometimes lost in conflicting testimonies, more like a judge or a member of a jury, trying to make sense and mentally rebuild the event myself. Did I get bored reading it? No. However, I did not get excited either. The book does offer the reader a view, trying to be fair and moderate, of the event, but it enters a tad too much into very many details, for my liking at least.
«The troops arrived in Boston not in response to a crisis but anticipating the possibility of one ».
« A motley rabble of saucy boys, negroes and molattoes, Irish teagues and out landish jack tarrs - it captures a widely held understanding of Boston’s composition ».
« As a symbol, the Boston Massacre refuses to resolve itself. Instead it asks us to define, over and over again, the limits of legitimate authority, and to place them in the balance against the limits of legitimate popular protest. »
The book is a strange melange of event description, presentation of testimonies, a display of the historical context before and after bringing a short parallelism with much later events and their possible interconnection.
Have I learned anything reading the book? Yes. At the same time though, I felt sometimes lost in conflicting testimonies, more like a judge or a member of a jury, trying to make sense and mentally rebuild the event myself. Did I get bored reading it? No. However, I did not get excited either. The book does offer the reader a view, trying to be fair and moderate, of the event, but it enters a tad too much into very many details, for my liking at least.
«The troops arrived in Boston not in response to a crisis but anticipating the possibility of one ».
« A motley rabble of saucy boys, negroes and molattoes, Irish teagues and out landish jack tarrs - it captures a widely held understanding of Boston’s composition ».
« As a symbol, the Boston Massacre refuses to resolve itself. Instead it asks us to define, over and over again, the limits of legitimate authority, and to place them in the balance against the limits of legitimate popular protest. »
January 16, 2024
This book looked at the circumstances surrounding the Boston Massacre - before / during / and after - more so than the actual event. The trials of the soldiers months later largely ended in acquittals for the soldiers - leaving an impression that this was mob violence gone wrong. The author then transitions to more modern versions of soldier / police violence with the Kent State anti-Vietnam war killings / the Jackson State shootings / civil rights demonstrators who were killed / to police violence against blacks / to Black Lives Matter. With the successful war against Britain in the American Revolution, the Boston Massacre has significantly faded from view - or has it? Crispus Attucks, the first person to die in the Boston Massacre was of partial African descent, and set the stage for comparisons to our times.
November 16, 2020
This book is a history of the Boston Massacre, which was one of the events that led up to the American Revolution. The author begins by providing a history of Boston during the period. I was interested to learn Boston was struggling economically at the time, and losing market share to other port cities. The author explains how Boston's hinterland was not very good agricultural land, and land taxes were bankrupting the Boston elite. The author also compares the situation in Boston to other colonial areas at the time, which I found very interesting. After describing the massacre and its aftermath (the trial in which the accused British soldiers were defended by John Adams), the author discusses its place in popular culture. Overall, the book was well-written and enlightening.
March 29, 2019
Very good analysis of how the atmosphere in Boston and the residents' relationship Great Britain soured culminating with the shooting of a crowd by soldiers of the 29th Regiment on the night of March 5, 1770.
More academic than I expected but overall it was interesting to see how both sides explained and justified their actions along with the battle to set history straight with what actually happened that night.
More academic than I expected but overall it was interesting to see how both sides explained and justified their actions along with the battle to set history straight with what actually happened that night.
February 11, 2021
A fascinating book documenting the geo-political climate that led to this infamous event. Painstakingly researched, Hindraker admirably deconstructs the economic and political forces that fomented the affair and their significance in the early days of the American revolution. From a neutral perspective, Hindraker presciently sheds light on the reality of over-arching political tensions that often catch common people in the middle of tense, often violent, political endeavors.
October 13, 2020
This was a good read. The author scours the details of the event of March 5, 1770 and illustrated how a story can be bent and twisted to the will of the story teller and reframed and respun to support one’s political biases even hundreds of years on.
March 3, 2019
An excellent historical read. This is a fascinating look at the real story of the Boston Massacre. If you like American history pick up this book.
June 21, 2022
This book was definitely informative but much of the information was muddied in how mind-numbingly wordy it was.
December 22, 2025
the way that i never logged this book lol! i read it for my american revolution history class (of course). it's alright. just alright. very three stars. can't be mad at it.
May 26, 2017
gave me a new perspective on how to look at this event
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews