Massachusetts Books

Samuel Adams: A Life

Ira Stoll

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

In this stirring biography, Samuel Adams joins the first tier of founding fathers, a rank he has long deserved. With eloquence equal to that of Thomas Jefferson and Tom Paine, and with a passionate love of God, Adams helped ignite the flame of liberty and made sure it glowed even during the Revolution's darkest hours. He was, as Jefferson later observed, "truly the man of the Revolution."

In a role that many Americans have not fully appreciated until now, Adams played a pivotal role in the events leading up to the bloody confrontation with the British. Believing that God had willed a free American nation, he was among the first patriot leaders to call for independence from England. He was ever the man of action: He saw the opportunity to stir things up after the Boston Massacre and helped plan and instigate the Boston Tea Party, though he did not actually participate in it. A fiery newspaper editor, he railed ceaselessly against "taxation without representation."

In a relentless blizzard of articles and speeches, Adams, a man of New England, argued the urgency of revolution. When the top British general in America, Thomas Gage, offered a general amnesty in June 1775 to all revolutionaries who would lay down their arms, he excepted only two men,ÊJohn Hancock and Samuel Adams: These two were destined for the gallows. It was this pair, author Ira Stoll argues, whom the British were pursuing in their fateful march on Lexington and Concord.

In the tradition of David McCullough's John Adams, Joseph Ellis's The Founding Brothers, and Walter Isaacson's Benjamin Franklin, Ira Stoll's Samuel Adams vividly re-creates a world of ideas and action, reminding us that none of these men of courage knew what we know today: that they would prevail and make history anew.

The idea that especially inspired Adams was religious in nature: He believed that God had intervened on behalf of the United States and would do so as long asits citizens maintained civic virtue. "We shall never be abandoned by Heaven while we act worthy of its aid and protection," Adams insisted. A central thesis of this biography is that religion in large part motivated the founding of America.

A gifted young historian and newspaperman, Ira Stoll has written a gripping story about the man who was the revolution's moral conscience. Sure to be discussed widely, this book reminds us who Samuel Adams was, why he has been slighted by history, and why he must be remembered.

Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War

Nathaniel Philbrick

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 278 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Hard to stay interested 2 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

To me the book concentrated much more on the various Indian tribes and not enough on the passengers of the Mayflower. If you are interested in the History of New England Indian tribes this book is for you.

Riveting Historical Novel of America's Early History 4 out of 5 stars.
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Mayflower, a historical novel by Nathaniel Philbrick, documents a time of American history that is often hidden behind myth, legend and political correctness.

Mayflower first tells the story of the earliest Pilgrims to come to the New World and then lays out the history of the English-Indian wars fought by the Pilgrims' descendants. Philbrick's description of the early Americans is as compelling as it is accurate - fairly portraying the early settlers and their quest for survival and then for settlement.

I appreciated Mayflower for its evenhanded portrayal of the early Pilgrims and the Native Americans they befriended. In a day of increasing political correctness, most Americans tend to one of two extremes when thinking about the Pilgrims. Some mythologize and glorify the Pilgrims and their motives. Others demonize them for disrupting the "peaceful" life of the American Indians.

The truth lies somewhere between these two extremes. Philbrick does not shy away from the religiosity of the early settlers. Neither does he shy away from the deceptive craftiness of some of the later Indians. He criticizes the actions of Pilgrims and Indians alike, weaving into his narrative fascinating stories of unity, betrayal, and community.

Most American history focuses on the 1700's and the quest for American independence. Mayflower goes back even further, telling the story of the American forefathers' ancestors and the early American settlements. What is perhaps most fascinating about Philbrick's account is how the debates over religion and national identity in the U.S. today were already present on the Mayflower. From the beginning, the Pilgrims included religious and non-religious in their midst - and the debate over what kind of society should emerge was just as controversial then as now.

Pick up Mayflower. Read the story of courage, community, and war. Learn about the earliest Americans. Trust me - you won't be able to put the book down.

Editorial Review:

Nathaniel Philbrick became an internationally renowned author with his National Book Award– winning In the Heart of the Sea, hailed as “spellbinding” by Time magazine. In Mayflower, Philbrick casts his spell once again, giving us a fresh and extraordinarily vivid account of our most sacred national myth: the voyage of the Mayflower and the settlement of Plymouth Colony. From the Mayflower’s arduous Atlantic crossing to the eruption of King Philip’s War between colonists and natives decades later, Philbrick reveals in this electrifying history of the Pilgrims a fifty-five-year epic, at once tragic and heroic, that still resonates with us today.

Rebound!: Basketball, Busing, Larry Bird, and the Rebirth of Boston

Michael Connelly

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Editorial Review:

In the mid-1970s, the city of Boston entered a period of upheaval on both its historic cobblestone streets and its legendary parquet basketball court. The Boston Celtics’ long dominance of the NBA came to an abrupt end, and the city's image as a hub of social justice was shaken to its core. When the federal courts declared, in 1974, that the city was in violation of school desegregation rulings and would need to institute a busing program, Boston became deeply polarized.

Then, just as the city was struggling to pull itself out of economic and social turmoil, the Boston Celtics drafted a forward from Indiana State named Larry Bird. Upon the arrival of the “Hick from French Lick” to Boston in 1979, the fates of team and city were reborn. Pride, championships, reduced crime, and an economic boom re-emerged in Boston.

In Rebound!, author Michael Connelly chronicles these parallel but intertwining worlds. It is an account of a city in financial, moral, and social decline brought back to life by the re-emergence of the Boston Celtics dynasty and the return of hope, purpose, and pride to “Hub of the Universe.” Interviews with city officials, former players, and others on the frontlines provide a fascinating exploration into this tumultuous time.

Paul Revere's Ride

David Hackett Fischer

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Total reviews: 75 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Paul Revere's midnight ride looms as an almost mythical event in American history--yet it has been largely ignored by scholars and left to patriotic writers and debunkers. Now one of the foremost American historians offers the first serious look at the events of the night of April 18, 1775--what led up to it, what really happened, and what followed--uncovering a truth far more remarkable than the myths of tradition.
In Paul Revere's Ride, David Hackett Fischer fashions an exciting narrative that offers deep insight into the outbreak of revolution and the emergence of the American republic. Beginning in the years before the eruption of war, Fischer illuminates the figure of Paul Revere, a man far more complex than the simple artisan and messenger of tradition. Revere ranged widely through the complex world of Boston's revolutionary movement--from organizing local mechanics to mingling with the likes of John Hancock and Samuel Adams. When the fateful night arrived, more than sixty men and women joined him on his task of alarm--an operation Revere himself helped to organize and set in motion. Fischer recreates Revere's capture that night, showing how it had an important impact on the events that followed. He had an uncanny gift for being at the center of events, and the author follows him to Lexington Green--setting the stage for a fresh interpretation of the battle that began the war. Drawing on intensive new research, Fischer reveals a clash very different from both patriotic and iconoclastic myths. The local militia were elaborately organized and intelligently led, in a manner that had deep roots in New England. On the morning of April 19, they fought in fixed positions and close formation, twice breaking the British regulars. In the afternoon, the American officers switched tactics, forging a ring of fire around the retreating enemy which they maintained for several hours--an extraordinary feat of combat leadership. In the days that followed, Paul Revere led a new battle-- for public opinion--which proved even more decisive than the fighting itself.
When the alarm-riders of April 18 took to the streets, they did not cry, "the British are coming," for most of them still believed they were British. Within a day, many began to think differently. For George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Thomas Paine, the news of Lexington was their revolutionary Rubicon. Paul Revere's Ride returns Paul Revere to center stage in these critical events, capturing both the drama and the underlying developments in a triumphant return to narrative history at its finest.

The Faithful Departed: The Collapse of Boston's Catholic Culture

Philip F. Lawler

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Total reviews: 18 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Facts & Analysis on Target 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

Lawler uses the failings of the Boston Archdiocese not only recently but over its history as a platform to review the scandals besetting the Catholic Church in America that have been so much in the news.

He rejects the notion that the sex abuse scandal was a series of aberrations, but had at its root the unwillingness of bishops and priests to be faithful to Catholic dogmas and discipline. Outstanding analysis - and a critically important book for understanding not only the sex abuse scandal but also the contemporary situation of the Catholic Church in America today.

Editorial Review:

Faithful Departed traces the rise and fall of the Catholic Church in Boston, showing how the Massachusetts experience set a pattern that echoed throughout the United States as religious institutions lost influence in the face of rising secularization. The collapse of Catholicism in Boston became apparent with the explosion of the sex-abuse crisis. Lawler shows that the sex-abuse scandal was neither the cause nor the beginning of Catholicism's decline in Boston.

The Last Fish Tale: The Fate of the Atlantic and Survival in Gloucester, America's Oldest Fishing Port and Most Original Town

Mark Kurlansky

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Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

The bestselling author of Cod, Salt, and The Big Oyster has enthralled readers with his incisive blend of culinary, cultural, and social history. Now, in his most colorful, personal, and important book to date, Mark Kurlansky turns his attention to a disappearing way of life: fishing–how it has thrived in and defined one particular town for centuries, and what its imperiled future means for the rest of the world.

The culture of fishing is vanishing, and consequently, coastal societies are changing in unprecedented ways. The once thriving fishing communities of Rockport, Nantucket, Newport, Mystic, and many other coastal towns from Newfoundland to Florida and along the West Coast have been forced to abandon their roots and become tourist destinations instead. Gloucester, Massachusetts, however, is a rare survivor. The livelihood of America’s oldest fishing port has always been rooted in the life and culture of commercial fishing.

The Gloucester story began in 1004 with the arrival of the Vikings. Six hundred years later, Captain John Smith championed the bountiful waters off the coast of Gloucester, convincing new settlers to come to the area and start a new way of life. Gloucester became the most productive fishery in New England, its people prospering from the seemingly endless supply of cod and halibut. With the introduction of a faster fishing boat–the schooner–the industry flourished. In the twentieth century, the arrival of Portuguese, Jews, and Sicilians turned the bustling center into a melting pot. Artists and writers such as Edward Hopper, Winslow Homer, and T. S. Eliot came to the fishing town and found inspiration.

But the vital life of Gloucester was being threatened. Ominous signs were seen with the development of engine-powered net-dragging vessels in the first decade of the twentieth century. As early as 1911, Gloucester fishermen warned of the dire consequences of this new technology. Since then, these vessels have become even larger and more efficient, and today the resulting overfishing, along with climate change and pollution, portends the extinction of the very species that fishermen depend on to survive, and of a way of life special not only to Gloucester but to coastal cities all over the world. And yet, according to Kurlansky, it doesn’t have to be this way. Scientists, government regulators, and fishermen are trying to work out complex formulas to keep fishing alive.

Engagingly written and filled with rich history, delicious anecdotes, colorful characters, and local recipes, The Last Fish Tale is Kurlansky’s most urgent story, a heartfelt tribute to what he calls “socio-diversity” and a lament that “each culture, each way of life that vanishes, diminishes the richness of civilization.”

Of Plymouth Plantation (Dover Value Editions)

William Bradford

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

My "Grandparents" 5 out of 5 stars.
8 of 12 people found this review helpful.

Gov. Bradford wrote the story of the Pilgrims as a journal for his family, to be passed down through the generations. (It's own history of how it got out of the family, was lost for many decades, where it was found and how restored to Plymouth is a fascinating story in itself.)
Bradford was one of my 7th great-great grandfathers, Elder Wm. Brewster, my 8th g-g grandfather, John & Priscilla another set of 7th g-g grandparents, (one of their daughters (in my line) married Alexander Standish, son Capt. Myles, etc...So I have been familiar with their story all my life.
I am intent on seeing that each member of my family have a copy of this book - my most treasured volume I got on eBay for $5...when it came in the mail, I was astounded to find it is the 1898 edition!...titled; "Bradford's History."
Last year, The History Channel put out a new movie: "The Desperate Crossing" - Using Shakespearean actors, the scenery, photography, adventure - well, if you liked the movie Master and Commander, this story - finally the WHOLE story of that intrepid band who sailed on the Mayflower - is every bit as spectacular. I have waited all my life for such a true and complete movie of the Pilgrims of Plymouth.
It's available in DVD here at Amazon. I just bought 3 more...to give to my children and their kids for Thanksgiving...and it will be shown here after our VERY traditional Thanksgiving dinner.
We all benefit from the sacrifices and perseverance of the Pilgrims. Surely, Governor Bradford's hope, expressed in his Journal, came to pass in a greater manner than even he could have envisioned when he wrote, at the end: "Thus out of small beginnings ... AS ONE SMALL CANDLE MAY LIGHT A THOUSAND, S0 THE LIGHT HERE KINDLED HATH SHONE UNTO MANY, yea in some sort to our whole nation;"

Editorial Review:

The most important and influential source of information about Plymouth, this landmark account was written by the colony's governor. It vividly documents the Pilgrims' first stop in Holland, their harrowing transatlantic crossing, the first harsh winter in the new land, and the help from Native Americans that saved their lives.

Fiend: The Shocking True Story Of Americas Youngest Serial Killer

Harold Schechter

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Total reviews: 23 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

You've probably never heard of Jesse Pomeroy unless you've read Caleb Carr's 1994 novel, The Alienist, which features a brief prison interview with "America's most famous lifer." But this legendary bogeyman will be hard to forget after you read his life story. Pomeroy tortured and murdered children in Boston in the 1870s. He was himself a child at the time, only 14 when he was finally arrested. Author Harold Schechter, a New York literature professor who has made a name for himself documenting nonfiction accounts of heinous crimes, deftly resurrects the past from newspaper accounts, letters, and other historical documents, including a reform school's massive volume disturbingly titled History of Boys. Schechter doesn't take the easy way out. He could have just pieced together reports and accounts, letting the record stiffly tell the tale. Instead, he blends his research into a seamless story, fascinating in its horror, as well as its ability to turn the century-old characters into real people. The reader will be pleased to find copies of engravings, photos, and sketches of Pomeroy, from his heyday as "boy-fiend," as well as his later days behind bars, when fellow inmates changed his nickname to a less-sinister "Grandpa." Schechter sets out to teach a lesson, and in Fiend he succeeds at reminding us that modern times don't have a monopoly on juvenile terror. --Jodi Mailander Farrell

In the Kennedy Kitchen: Recipes and Recollections of a Great American Family

Neil Connolly, Elizabeth Benedict

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Total reviews: 23 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

The famed compound at Hyannisport was the Kennedy family's favorite place to relax, and Rose Kennedy's kitchen was the central gathering place. Everyone--including Jackie Kennedy Onassis, JFK Jr., Caroline Kennedy, Maria Shriver, and Arnold Schwarzenegger--came wandering in the back door to visit Rose. Her chef, Neil Connolly, always made sure there was lobster salad, potato salad, and a platter of roast chicken in the fridge, and in this book, he brings these and other favorites to your home. Included in this cookbook are Kennedy family photos and anecdotes collected personally by Neil.

Here he shares an exclusive recipe from the Kennedy kitchen with us:

Sugar Tuile

These thin, crisp cookies can be cooled flat, but here they are formed into edible cups that can hold ice cream, chocolate mouse, or fresh berries. Note that the cookies are baked in two batches, so that you have time to mold them while they are still warm and soft.

Makes about 8 cookie cups 1 stick (4 ounces) butter, at room temperature 1/2 cup sugar 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, sifted 6 egg whites 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven at 375 degrees F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper and draw four circles 5 inches in diameter on each piece of paper. 2. Invert four heatproof, 2-inch-wide glasses or cups on the counter so they are ready when the tuiles come out of the oven. 3. In a mixing bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the sifted flour, egg whites, and vanilla. Beat until well blended. 4. Spoon the batter into the circles on one baking sheet and spread to the edges with an offset spatula. The batter will be very thin. 5. Bake the tuiles for 5 to 6 minutes, or until the edges become golden brown. 6. Remove from the oven and immediately use a wide spatula to invert each tuile over a glass. Using a mitt, gently press to form into a cup shape. As soon as the tuiles are set, gently lift them off the glasses. 7. Whisk the batter briefly and form the remaining 4 tuiles. Bake and form as directed above. When all the tuile cups are cool and set, store in a covered container until ready for use.

The Outermost House: A Year of Life On The Great Beach of Cape Cod

Henry Beston

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Total reviews: 22 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

The seventy-fifth anniversary edition of the classic book about Cape Cod, “written with simplicity, sympathy, and beauty” (New York Herald Tribune)A chronicle of a solitary year spent on a Cape Cod beach, The Outermost House has long been recognized as a classic of American nature writing. Henry Beston had originally planned to spend just two weeks in his seaside home, but was so possessed by the mysterious beauty of his surroundings that he found he “could not go.”Instead, he sat down to try and capture in words the wonders of the magical landscape he found himself in thrall to: the migrations of seabirds, the rhythms of the tide, the windblown dunes, and the scatter of stars in the changing summer sky. Beston argued that, “The world today is sick to its thin blood for the lack of elemental things, for fire before the hands, for water, for air, for the dear earth itself underfoot.” Seventy-five years after they were first published, Beston’s words are more true than ever.