The Boston Massacre: A Family HistoryA 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 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'sThe Boston Massacre delivers an indelible new slant on iconic American Revolutionary history. |
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LibraryThing Review
User Review - Othemts - LibraryThingThe Boston Massacre is seen as a precipitating event of the American Revolution, but at the time, no one knew the revolution was coming. People made the incident represent their political ideologies ... Read full review
LibraryThing Review
User Review - rivkat - LibraryThingThe Boston Massacre, Zabin argues, has been stripped of its context from the very beginning. Even just after it happened, both sides had reasons to deny that the soldiers quartered in Boston had ... Read full review
Contents
1 Families of Empire 1765 | 1 |
2 Inseparable Interests 176667 | 17 |
3 Seasons of Discontent 176668 | 31 |
4 Under One Roof 1768 | 49 |
5 Love Your Neighbor 176970 | 79 |
6 Absent Without Leave 176870 | 109 |
March 1770 | 136 |
Illustrations | 160 |
March 6 1770August 1772 | 160 |
9 From Shooting to Massacre OctoberDecember 1770 | 191 |
Back Matter | 222 |
Back Flap | 297 |
Back Cover | 298 |
Spine | 299 |
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