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Serena R. Zabin

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The Boston Massacre: A Family History Kindle Edition

by Serena R. Zabin (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.4 325 ratings

Editors' pick Best History

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“Historical accuracy and human understanding require coming down from the high ground and seeing people in all their complexity. Serena Zabin’s rich and highly enjoyable book does just that.”—Kathleen DuVal, Wall Street Journal

A dramatic, untold “people’s history” of the storied event that helped trigger the American Revolution.

The story of the Boston Massacre—when on a late winter evening in 1770, British soldiers shot five local men to death—is familiar to generations. But from the very beginning, many accounts have obscured a fascinating truth: the Massacre arose from conflicts that were as personal as they were political.

Professor Serena Zabin draws on original sources and lively stories to follow British troops as they are dispatched from Ireland to Boston in 1768 to subdue the increasingly rebellious colonists. And she reveals a forgotten world hidden in plain sight: the many regimental wives and children who accompanied these armies. We see these families jostling with Bostonians for living space, finding common cause in the search for a lost child, trading barbs, and sharing baptisms. Becoming, in other words, neighbors. When soldiers shot unarmed citizens in the street, it was these intensely human, now broken bonds that fueled what quickly became a bitterly fought American Revolution.

Serena Zabin’s The Boston Massacre delivers an indelible new slant on iconic American Revolutionary history.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

An Amazon Best Book of February 2020: This book’s subtitle, “A Family History,” sends a clear signal that this isn’t your usual Boston Massacre story—and thank goodness for history professor Serena Zabin’s interest in digging deeper into the 1770 event that pivoted the American colonies closer to revolution. With an eye for the attention-arresting detail, Zabin follows a dozen key players as British troops are first housed among the tax-resistant Bostonians in an antagonistic 1768 decision by the army’s officers, and then begin to desert into the New England countryside in record numbers. At the same time, Zabin highlights the juicy stories of soldiers’ marriages to local lasses, soldiers’ wives’ attempts to keep their families together, and drunken scuffles on the street to examine the complicated relationships that propagated during the British regiments’ years in Boston. Diary entries, personal letters to friends and fiery letters to newspapers, sarcastic ditties sung at social events, and court and church records expose the complex interactions between the residents of Boston and the soldiers encamped among them. Zabin’s sense of humor, her interest in exploring historical crannies others have ignored, and a firm grasp of human behavior make The Boston Massacre a lively and convincing history that illuminates an oft-cited incident in a new and exhilarating way. —Adrian Liang, Amazon Book Review

Review

“A lively gem of a book that expands our view of early-modern military life, pre-revolutionary Boston, and, in turn, the American Revolution.” — Washington Post

"A well-written, thoroughly interesting addition to the social history of the American Colonies." — Kirkus Reviews

"Penetrating and lyrical, Zabin’s Boston Massacre offers startling revelations on every page. To read this “family history” is to tread the cobbled streets of eighteenth-century British America, peering into shops, barracks, bedrooms, and government halls along the way. Zabin’s account ripples far beyond Boston on the vexed night of March 5, 1770, offering fresh understandings of the cause of liberty and its consequences. The American Revolution—indeed, early urban warfare itself—will never look the same." — Jane Kamensky, Trumbull Professor of American History, Harvard University, and author of A Revolution in Color: The World of John Singleton Copley

"Zabin’s engaging history adds nuance and complexity to the political and social aspects of the American Revolution." — Booklist

“A compelling history of the Boston Massacre, weaving personal stories together to present a comprehensive view of this turning point incident." — Library Journal

"Historical accuracy and human understanding require coming down from the high ground and seeing people in all their complexity. Serena Zabin’s rich and highly enjoyable book does just that." — Kathleen DuVal, Wall Street Journal

"An intimate, complex, and moving picture of the friendships and family connections between Britons and Bostonians, in the throes of revolutionary change. Zabin’s eloquent account illuminates the ways in which the actors in this nation-making and empire-breaking drama experienced the rupture and transformation of the world they made together.” — Peter S. Onuf, author, with Annette Gordon-Reed, of Most Blessed of the Patriarchs: Thomas Jefferson and the Empire of the Imagination

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07SQCQ2D9
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Mariner Books; Illustrated edition (February 18, 2020)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ February 18, 2020
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 15020 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 323 pages
Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 0544911156

Best Sellers Rank: #243,661 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #49 in Revolutionary History
- #140 in US Revolution & Founding History (Kindle Store)
- #319 in U.S. Colonial Period History

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4.4 325 ratings

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M. Benjamin

Wonderful Recreation of Colonial Boston

Reviewed in the United States on October 7, 2020

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This is a great book for a number of reasons. There have been several books out recently that have studied or at least mentioned the Boston Massacre (including Eric Hinderaker's book entitled "Boston's Massacre," but Ms. Zabin's new book is impressive in the way that it relates the condition of the actual city of Boston and its inhabitants to the reader.

Ms. Zabin re-creates the Boston of 1770 in the reader's eye better than any other treatment I've read (in fact I believe I read recently that she has been working on a video game set in colonial Boston that rebuilds the city as it would have looked in the 1770s), and follows the record of a number of British soldiers and their families who were ultimately assigned to Boston. Her description of camp life and the numerous ways in which residents of Boston interacted with those soldiers and their families is well-researched, thorough, and convincing. She follows the units from their station in the Isles, to Nova Scotia, and finally to Boston, and does a wonderful job laying out the gradual development of tension within the city leading up to March 5, 1770. Her handling of the actual event, and the trial that played out, are equally informative.

In short, "The Boston Massacre: A Family History" is a close-up look at the people involved with that famous incident that truly does look at the players and families involved. I can't think of another book I've read that provided such a fresh and original take on such a well-known, but not so well understood, incident in American history. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in learning more about the Boston Massacre.

13 people found this helpful

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N. B. Kennedy

Both too much and not enough

Reviewed in the United States on May 18, 2020

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The author researches a fascinating topic -- the social and familial connections between Bostonians and the occupying British troops in the city leading up to the Boston Massacre of 1770, in which five Bostonians were killed. Her viewpoint illuminates the muddied waters between the factions. Too often we have a simplistic view of the American Revolution as the Patriots vs. the Redcoats. It must have been heartrending to have to choose sides in that time and place.

That said, it seems like there wasn't enough material to stretch out into a book. The same points are repeatedly stated and much of the material is conjecture. I don't discount the book for that reason -- I know how hard it is to find sources from long-ago events, especially accounts of women's lives. Women are only now starting to make it into the history books. Because the author attempts to unearth stories about women, I'll grant another star.

I also would have appreciated reading more about the massacre itself. Maybe I'm the only one, but I didn't know much about it. The author starts in with little detail about the massacre and a long-winded description of Paul Revere's version of the original artist's woodcut of the event. The two versions aren't shown side-by-side, so right away I was lost, and I didn't even understand the importance of the details as I was unfamiliar with the event. I looked up the massacre online, so that I'd have some background and be able to finish the book without the distraction of missing information.

24 people found this helpful

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Historical Ken

18th Century Boston Brought Vividly To Life

Reviewed in the United States on July 20, 2020

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I love the manner in which these new history books are being written.
This is an excellent read - the author, Serena Zabin, really puts flesh on the bones of those who were living in Boston from the 1760s leading up to the event of March 5, 1770, and what happened after; people involved in both sides of the conflict, from the soldiers to General Preston to the average citizen of Boston, are brought vividly to life though deep primary source research. As I read in another review, "We see the soldiers jostling with Bostonians for living space, finding common cause in the search for a lost child, trading barbs and and sharing baptisms. Becoming, in other words, neighbors."
And then what happened afterward - the soldiers forced to leave Boston, the imprisonment of the accused, the families involved...
I absolutely love the way the author has detailed descriptions of the world of 18th century Boston and its citizens, much in the same way that David Hackett Fischer does in his own book, Paul Revere's Ride.
Oh! The power of the well-written word...bringing the past to life.

9 people found this helpful

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therover

A wonderful book, but misleading in name.

Reviewed in the United States on February 3, 2021

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Reading this account of the British army in Boston revealed many new thoughts and impressions. However, the book should be called, British occupation of Boston: Soldiers and Families. It only mentions the massacre as a reference or side note. Lots of good information about what lead up to the massacre, but not too detailed as an incident in itself. A look at life in Boston from the British side.

4 people found this helpful

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Luz A. Arévalo

Uncovered History Is The Best History

Reviewed in the United States on March 27, 2020

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Author Serena Zabin really knew how to both inform her audience through her masterful storytelling, in-depth analyses, and witty quips. Most people assume that the events of the Boston Massacre were a result of black and white (Bostonians vs. British Soldiers) hatred and resentment. Zabin paints a story much more nuanced, revealing a much more believable story where Bostonians thought of themselves as another city in the British Empire, and the soldiers stationed in Boston were not resented or hated except by the Sons of Liberty.

Another important point this book tackles is the systematic erasure of women and children from the popular narrative of early revolutionary history. Zabin brings to light the necessity armies have for women, and the fact that women brought with them children who were baptized or neighbors to Boston residents.

Zabin is telling us the true, uncovered history, one where Bostonians and soldiers were individuals who were suddenly ripped apart by the events of the Boston Massacre.

12 people found this helpful

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11428

I lost sleep over this book

Reviewed in the United States on September 29, 2021

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I started reading this book the afternoon I purchased it. When bedtime came, I was still reading. I never thought about the relationship between the British soldiers and the Bostonians. I learned from it, and it made me want to learn more — the sign of a good book. Highly recommended.

5 people found this helpful

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Donald

Interesting subject deeper than the average history student will be taught at school.

Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2023

Verified Purchase

I have not had time to complete the book because of daily life issues. It is on the top of the pile for summer reading.