A Short History of Cape Cod

by Robert J. Allison

Third in a series that began with Allison's "A Short History of Boston," this concise narrative covers four colorful centuries. Here are the key events in Cape Cod history, with over twenty personal profiles of historic figures, more than 100 black-and-white photographs, a detailed chronology, and an index. There's enough detail here to fascinate the historian and enough stories to fill an enjoyable day at the beach. Discovered by Bartholomew Gosnold in 1602 and visited by the Mayflower on its way to Plymouth, Cape Cod has been the site of confrontations between Pilgrims and natives, between Patriots and Tories. Salt works and windmills, lighthouses and shipwrecks, and characters as varied as radio pioneer Guglielmo Marconi and playwright Eugene O'Neill have given Cape Cod a unique landscape and a fascinating human community. "Men once set out to hunt whales from Provincetown Harbor," Allison writes. "Today boats go to watch the whales and study them. The land remains though it continues to change, as the relentless tide and wind reshape the land and remove all evidence that any of us-Native people or Vikings, Pilgrims or Presidents, explorers, warriors, poets, painters, or entrepreneurs-ever set foot on this sandy beach."

Genres: History

128 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2010

About the author

Dr. Robert J. Allison is Professor of History at Suffolk University in Boston and also teaches history at the Harvard Extension School. He graduated from the Harvard Extension School with an A.L.B. before earning a Ph.D. in the History of American Civilization at Harvard in 1992.

Professor Allison received the Harvard Extension School's Petra Shattuck Distinguished Teaching Award in 1997, the Suffolk University Student Government Association's Distinguished Faculty Award in 2006, and the Suffolk University Outstanding Faculty Award in 2007.

His books include The Crescent Obscured: The United States and the Muslim World, 1776–1815 (2000); A Short History of Boston (2004); Stephen Decatur, American Naval Hero (2005); The Boston Massacre (2006); The Boston Tea Party (2007); and the upcoming A Short History of Cape Cod. He has edited books on American history spanning from the colonial period to the 20th century.

Professor Allison was a consultant to the Commonwealth Museum at the State Archives in Boston, and he is on the board of overseers of the USS Constitution Museum in Charlestown, Massachusetts. He is vice president of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts, an elected fellow of the Massachusetts Historical Society, and president of the South Boston Historical Society.

Reviews

[Len Lira · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well written concise history. Doesn’t ignore the brutal treatment that the local natives endured from the Europeans who settled their land. Learned that one of my son’s favorite authors, Kurt Vonnegut was a resident of Cape Code, the village of Barnstable. Also that the author of Peter Rabbit, Thornton Burgess, was from Sandwich.
Highly recommended for those interested in the early history of our nation, or traveling to Cape Cod.

[Leah Kinthaert · Rating 5 out of 5]

...I only wish it were much longer. great stories, really get an insight into why Cape Cod and Massachusetts residents are the way they are now.