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Inside the Combat Zone: The Stripped Down Story of Boston's Most Notorious Neighborhood
Boston has always been known for its stiff character. So how did this great New England city become home to one of the largest and most notorious adult entertainment districts in the nation? In this expertly crafted history, veteran reporter Stephanie Schorow teases out the issues that created this controversial neighborhood, giving voice to the players who sought to tame or profit from the sleaze snaking its way through Boston. At turns comic and tragic, Schorow introduces us to the politicians, exotic dancers, and wise guys, and residents brought together by the adult entertainment district―a five-acre neighborhood the city engineered to contain the very porno plague it wanted to eliminate. (Meet the nun-turned-attorney who advocated for the First Amendment rights of adult bookstores, a dancer called “the thinking man's stripper,” and Boston's unofficial city censor.) For these people and thousands of others, the Combat Zone is more than a memory―it was a life-altering adventure.
168 pages, Paperback
Published November 1, 2017
12 people are currently reading
110 people want to read
About the author
Stephanie Schorow
17 books8 followersStephanie Schorow is a Boston-area reporter and writer. For 12 years she toiled as a features editor and ink-stained scribe for the Boston Herald until she struck out on her own as a freelance writer in 2005. Her articles now regularly appear in the Boston Globe and other publications.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
July 9, 2018
Ignited by her signature curiosity and wit, Schorow takes the reader on a sometimes sordid, always strange, and strangely moving journey through Boston's Combat Zone, a place my mother was so petrified about she tried to nix my move to Boston in the '80s. Well, that didn't work! A terrific read by one of Boston's most treasured journalists.
June 14, 2021
Interesting slice of Boston history
October 25, 2022
A good quick read about the history of Boston's Combat Zone.
May 8, 2021
What the book achieves well is giving a highlight reel of the history of the Combat Zone. It's clear the author had a love for the subject, and while she does not ever wax nostalgic, there is an enthusiasm and slight wit to the reporting.
Oh, did I say "reporting?" This is an aspect you really have to be ready for when picking up this quick-to-read little book. It reads like a piece of long form journalism, rather than a comprehensive history. It feels like it was a series of excerpts from a Sunday newspaper magazine rather than a book of local Boston history. Everything is given a high gloss, and there are few areas of depth or construction.
Now this "reporterly" tone has it's good and bad. On the upside, the book reads briskly. Heck, a fast reader could plow through it in an afternoon and not feel a bit of chore. I appreciated the lightness for this reason.
However, I was very often frustrated with the lack of depth or contrasting research present. Throughout the book there are references to various factors – both national and local both sociological and individualistic – that shaped the history of the place. However, Schorrow only gives the nod but not the pursuit. This makes you feel like you're getting the bones but not the meat. The Combat Zone is a story that has implications far beyond its district, as well as influences from all throughout our culture. While Schorrow directly recognizes this as an idea, she does not explore it. This often leaves the history seeming flat and scant.
For example, race relations are barely addressed. The Combat Zone was parallel to some of the greatest racial tensions in Boston's history; indeed no institution escaped the way race intersected the culture. yet how racial tensions may have influenced the creation of the Zone, as well as impacted the denizens in very different ways, is not touched. Considering the intense mistreatment of the Chinese community adjacent to the Combat Zone, it seemed like more research and background would have been very apt to help understand the story of the place.
Indeed, the defining murder which began the demise of the district Schorrow does an excellent job laying out. But the racial element is barely touched. If race wasn't relevant (which seems VERY unlikely), contrasting that to the attitude of the times would have been important for the distinction of how the Zone was unique. These sorts of breadcrumb trails are implied and even directly referenced, but no research or exploration offered.
Likewise for the treatment of women. yes, Schorrow makes several references to the mistreatment of women but offers quite literally no research, data, or expert assessment. Just "sometimes things were bad for women" level of reference. How can one understand the criminal story of the Combat Zone and leave out the most regularly occurring crimes – those toward women? Again, the "high gloss" approach just leaves you frustratedly wanting more investment.
These issues would not have been so glaring had the book not opened strongly with a great representation of the national climate and attitudes of the day. This big picture perspective was not only exciting but really helped offer an understanding of this truly American experiment. Then quite suddenly that phenomenal perspective was just dropped, and it was straight-up reporting for the remainder of the book. Because there is that shift, the missing bits feel REALLY missing.
Now, I gave the book 4 stars with a touch of prejudice. I feel it is an important little piece because it really was a unique experiment we may never see again in the USA, or at least not for the foreseeable future. I would have given only 3.5 stars, but feel like the relevance and uniqueness should "round it up," not down.
Bostonphiles will be delighted, Those who love crime history will be satisfied. Those with curiosity will be informed, However, I dream of a version of this book that is one day twice as long and three times as in-depth.
Oh, did I say "reporting?" This is an aspect you really have to be ready for when picking up this quick-to-read little book. It reads like a piece of long form journalism, rather than a comprehensive history. It feels like it was a series of excerpts from a Sunday newspaper magazine rather than a book of local Boston history. Everything is given a high gloss, and there are few areas of depth or construction.
Now this "reporterly" tone has it's good and bad. On the upside, the book reads briskly. Heck, a fast reader could plow through it in an afternoon and not feel a bit of chore. I appreciated the lightness for this reason.
However, I was very often frustrated with the lack of depth or contrasting research present. Throughout the book there are references to various factors – both national and local both sociological and individualistic – that shaped the history of the place. However, Schorrow only gives the nod but not the pursuit. This makes you feel like you're getting the bones but not the meat. The Combat Zone is a story that has implications far beyond its district, as well as influences from all throughout our culture. While Schorrow directly recognizes this as an idea, she does not explore it. This often leaves the history seeming flat and scant.
For example, race relations are barely addressed. The Combat Zone was parallel to some of the greatest racial tensions in Boston's history; indeed no institution escaped the way race intersected the culture. yet how racial tensions may have influenced the creation of the Zone, as well as impacted the denizens in very different ways, is not touched. Considering the intense mistreatment of the Chinese community adjacent to the Combat Zone, it seemed like more research and background would have been very apt to help understand the story of the place.
Indeed, the defining murder which began the demise of the district Schorrow does an excellent job laying out. But the racial element is barely touched. If race wasn't relevant (which seems VERY unlikely), contrasting that to the attitude of the times would have been important for the distinction of how the Zone was unique. These sorts of breadcrumb trails are implied and even directly referenced, but no research or exploration offered.
Likewise for the treatment of women. yes, Schorrow makes several references to the mistreatment of women but offers quite literally no research, data, or expert assessment. Just "sometimes things were bad for women" level of reference. How can one understand the criminal story of the Combat Zone and leave out the most regularly occurring crimes – those toward women? Again, the "high gloss" approach just leaves you frustratedly wanting more investment.
These issues would not have been so glaring had the book not opened strongly with a great representation of the national climate and attitudes of the day. This big picture perspective was not only exciting but really helped offer an understanding of this truly American experiment. Then quite suddenly that phenomenal perspective was just dropped, and it was straight-up reporting for the remainder of the book. Because there is that shift, the missing bits feel REALLY missing.
Now, I gave the book 4 stars with a touch of prejudice. I feel it is an important little piece because it really was a unique experiment we may never see again in the USA, or at least not for the foreseeable future. I would have given only 3.5 stars, but feel like the relevance and uniqueness should "round it up," not down.
Bostonphiles will be delighted, Those who love crime history will be satisfied. Those with curiosity will be informed, However, I dream of a version of this book that is one day twice as long and three times as in-depth.
February 20, 2023
This is a pretty good book on an increasingly obscure topic - a neighborhood that is often washed away from more "official" historical accounts of the city, as details wear thin and sources disappear with time. The author does a fantastic job telling the story of the rise and fall of this neighborhood.
My only gripe about this book as that it glosses over a lot of details or broader context/perspective. As another reviewer alluded to, some major facts are limited to a sentence or two that could be a story of their own. For example, it is hinted that the unofficial spokesperson for the neighborhood may have fled to Montréal. Well, it would be worth noting that Montréal (in the past) had the ONLY European-style red light district in North America. With other historians and journalists referring to Montréal as a bit of a "Switzerland" for sex workers fleeing from the US, I feel like so much more could have been elaborated on how the Combat Zone related to sex work on a broader level, and how this was most certainly a low brow American interpretation of what other countries and cities did very differently.
Otherwise, it's a really great book. Just far too brief.
My only gripe about this book as that it glosses over a lot of details or broader context/perspective. As another reviewer alluded to, some major facts are limited to a sentence or two that could be a story of their own. For example, it is hinted that the unofficial spokesperson for the neighborhood may have fled to Montréal. Well, it would be worth noting that Montréal (in the past) had the ONLY European-style red light district in North America. With other historians and journalists referring to Montréal as a bit of a "Switzerland" for sex workers fleeing from the US, I feel like so much more could have been elaborated on how the Combat Zone related to sex work on a broader level, and how this was most certainly a low brow American interpretation of what other countries and cities did very differently.
Otherwise, it's a really great book. Just far too brief.
October 14, 2018
Fascinating local history - I vaguely remember seeing the zone from a bus as a child. Schorow relates a story of politics and personalities that created and inhabited it. I want to know more about the nun turned lawyer who defended adult bookstores in 1st amendment cases and became a respected Appeals Court Judge.
October 21, 2025
What this needs is more of like a central narrator character. It's extremely interesting but each chapter is something new. Doesn't have what that grindhouse book I read a while back from 42nd Street Pete of the personal touch. Regardless, good place to start on the combat zone.
January 2, 2018
Good book about a certain time and place.
I wish this book would have been longer.
I wish this book would have been longer.
July 7, 2018
Historical account of the rise and fall of Boston's notorious combat zone, as influenced by the US supreme court rulings and local politics in Boston.
May 6, 2021
Who knew there was a published history? Interesting stories behind a neighborhood that was.
April 27, 2022
Raucous, riotous and totally "only in Boston" this book is a must have for anyone who wants to understand the real Hub.
December 8, 2023
The book captures the many issues in Boston during the sixties and beyond. Amazing how many mistakes the city made. Great read. Enlightening.
July 27, 2025
So I got this book on a whim thinking it was about the criminal world of Boston. Yes, I did not read the back cover…..I had no idea what the combat zone was. Still a great history read.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews