Paul Revere's Ride by David Hackett Fischer
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Book Reviews of Paul Revere's Ride
Book Review: The Midnight Ride
Summary: 5 Stars
In this book, David Hackett Fischer investigates Paul Revere's role in the American fight for independence in great detail. His main objective is to offer the first serious study of Paul Revere's midnight ride, what led to it, what really happened, and what followed, thereby uncovering the truth behind the tale. From research in British and American archives, it is centered around two themes. One theme is centered around the American Patriot Paul Revere and the other is centered around British General Thomas Gage. Fischer writes that Paul Revere was more than a "simple atizan", that he was a leader of the Whig movement. He was not alone on the night of April 18, 1775. In fact there were more than 60 men and women to carry the alarm. In 16 chronologically arranged chapters along with maps and appendixes, Fischer supports the fact that Paul Revere was, more than anyone else, the major figure that organized the event and set it in motion. The first few chapters of the book lay the groundwork. We learn that Paul Revere was a Whig leader who lived in Boston and owned a Foundry, a Silver Shop, and a Hardware Store. We also learn that Thomas Gage was a British General who was the commander in chief of British forces in America. The story begins on Sept. 1, 1774 when Gage and the British captured the largest supply of gunpowder in Massaschusetts. Chaos ensued and it became known as the Powder Alarm. The winter of 1774 and the spring of 1775 were spent planning by the British and preparing by the Americans. The middle chapters of the book center around the midnight ride. Late in the afternoon on April 18, 1775, the British were in Boston Harbor and were ready to march. Their movements were reported to Paul Revere and Dr. Joseph Warren. Someone very close to British command aided Warren and Revere. Evidence suggests that is was none other than Margaret Gage, wife of General Gage. Warren, Revere, and William Dawes got things organized. Revere's primary mission was not the warn the countryside. His specific purpose was to warn Samuel Adams and John Hancock, who were thought to be the objects of the British expedition. Along the way, many people helped Revere accomplish his mission. Revere was actually captured by British patrol and was freed in time to rescue Hancock and Adams(twice) and to save the secret papers of the Revolution. The British were marching from Boston to Cambridge, then on to Lexington and Concord. The minutemen were ready for them. The late chapters do well to explain what followed. The muster of the minutemen was the product of many years of development. It was the result of careful planning and a collective effort. The battles on Lexington Green were not open skirmishes, but rather a series of controlled engagements. There were six in all, with the Americans winning twice. The second battle at Concord also saw an American victory. The Americans maintained a "circle of fire" around the British and forced them to retreat. Fischer's study is a great piece of work. He has done a wonderful job in fulfilling his purpose, explaining his thesis and has supported their validity. The book vividly depicts the lives of Revere and Gage, especially Revere and supports that Revere was not alone in his efforts, that in fact it was a collective effort with many people aiding him. Their efforts helped the people of Massachusetts prepare for war. It does and wonderful job describing the events and emotions of the time period, when the colonies were declaring their independence and when innocent men and women died and risked their live fighting for that independence. Paul Revere was one of those men, and should be known as a true American Patriot. It is based on American and British archives and is footnoted efficiently and us supported by appendixes and numerous maps. Fischer's work of uncovering the truth behind the myth of Paul Revere should be recognized as a legitimate study.Book Review: "One if By Land....."
Summary: 5 Stars
I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the American Revolution, and the movement leading up to it; and desires to find authors who bring it back to life for us, who make us feel we actually know the people who have given so much of themselves for the rest of us, allowing us to make it to this century where we now live in comfort and liberty due to the extraordinary motivation that paved the way for us. Accurate historical account, but aided by vivid narrative rather than structured text, it's a read that's hard to put down. I want to relive the moments, feel the rush of what must have driven them, sense the night air, the position of the moon, and the countryside moving by in the same way they must have. History written without those basic human emotions is not the same as that which is, so that is the type of book I look for and not all authors are created equal.
The amazing aforesight of advance planning and fruitation of those plans coming from those without the aid of cell phones or other modern methods of communication seems all but impossible when you consider the personal danger, the distances between, the knowledge that there was no room for error in carrying out those plans in the dead of night once they were launched, the meticulous coordination and teamwork of the Pre-revolutionists; the ability used to carry it out with but rudimentary tools, even melting down materials for their bullets in their back rooms, in the knowledge that more would surely be needed and how was that to happen.
The book gives an accounting of the Old North Church signals, the climbing of the tower on a stairway far less sturdy than what current OSHA regulations would permit, I daresay, in the dark for fear of discovery, carrying lanterns to be lit with candles after arriving at the window. It describes the wild ride to Lexington spreading the warning, the capture by the British, all written in vivid detail. It gives insight into Paul Revere's life and his importance in the pre-revolution planning and intelligence system, not simply his "midnight ride". It describes the events leading up to it, the cat and mouse games played with the British that I had all but forgotten. What passion must have moved within them to suffer such discomfort in carrying out immense acts of courage.
I hope this review will aid others in their search for wonderful books regarding the Revolution, and I myself made use of such reviews before I made the selection, so many thanks to those who took the time to do it.
Additional recommended books regarding American History:
** "Miracle at Philadelphia" by Catherine Drinker Bowen
** "Three men of Boston" by John r. galvin
** "The Adams-Jefferson Letters"
** "Jefferson" by Thomas Jefferson (Library of America)
** "American Colonies" by Alan Taylor
** "The First American" (Franklin) by H.W. Brands (Library of America)
** "1776" by David McCullough
** "John Adams" by David McCullough
** ""Defiance of the Patriots - the Boston Tea Party" - Benjamin L. Carp
Book Review: America needs to understand it's beginings
Summary: 5 Stars
Excellent book Extremely well documented. Dispells some common misconceptions about the American Revolutionary War and provides great insight into many individuals who were instramental in the efforts of American Liberty.
A couple misconceptions that are covered:
The image Americans have of Paul Revere being a lone rider yelling "the British are coming!" is a fanciful one. First, there were many players and riders on the night of April 18th and the day of April 19th, 1775, not just Paul Revere. Second, and one of the most important things for Americans today to realize is that the Colonialists were British citizens and saw themselves that way. They had no intentions of starting a revoultion for independence prior to Lexington-Concord and they most certainly did not hear "the British are coming". They heard "the regulars are coming". These redcoats were their own troops, and the colonialists saw them exactly that way.
Most people I know will give you taxation as the primiary catalyst for the American Revoultionary War. This is also a false idea. The primary reason (and the events surrounding April 19th, 1775 prove this out) was the British government's attempt to reduce the colonials' ability to resist them militarily. The British government and armed forces were seizing cannon, gunpowder and shot.
Champions of the 2nd Amendment will exclaim that the Revolutionary War was started becuase of gun control, and that is partly true. The "regulars" did not in general care about the average colonialists arms, at least to begin with. There were arms in just about every household in New England, and they did not think it prudent to attempt house to house search and seizure. They realized it would be much easier to limit the supply of munitions (blackpowder especially), the bulk of which were generally stored at "powderhouses" in various communities. In this manner the British government hoped to limit the ability of the colonialist whigs to mount a sustained resistance.
The successful and unsuccessful attempts to seize powder did not have the affect the goverment hoped. Read the book and find out what happened. It's your history and heritage America.
I want to note that I found this book through participating in a program called The Appleseed Project, an offshoot of the Revolutionary War Veterans Association. I think the skills gained therein, and the historical narratives provided are really needed in America today. Thanks for reading.
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Book Review: "That memory may their deed redeem"
Summary: 5 Stars
Paul Revere's Ride is a masterpiece of American history. Although the book's title might suggest a narrow work, this is in fact a comprehensive account of the beginning of the American nation on April 19th, 1775. Using Paul Revere's midnight ride "through every Middlesex village and farm" as a central thread, Fischer weaves together an intricate history of early New England politics and society. Along the way he teaches us about the psychology of war, the organization of armies, the power of popular uprisings, and the role of personal agency in history.The greater part of the book is an hour-by-hour and often minute-by-minute account of the events of April 18th and 19th at Lexington and Concord. During the night of the 18th a detachment of troops from the British garrison in Boston was sent to capture the colonists' supply of arms at Concord, eighteen miles to the west. By the end of the day the British had suffered more than 270 casualties and the sun was setting on the remains of an empire. Quoting the novelist Henry James, Fischer shows how the battles that day formed the hinge "on which the large revolving future was to turn."
The quantity of primary source material that exists for this one day in American history is extraordinary, and Fischer and his students have processed it all in an exemplary fashion. Their close scholarship does not intrude on the reading text, but is instead displayed in comprehensive endnotes for those readers who wish to seek out further details.
Every American should know the story that is told in Paul Revere's Ride. But it shouldn't be a book just for Americans: all people fighting for their homes and their freedom, in any age and on any continent, can learn from and be inspired by the story of the farmers of Massachusetts on that April morning those many years ago. This is a book for all lovers of liberty, wherever they may be.
Book Review: Fine Historical Narrative
Summary: 5 Stars
Fischer is a distinguished professor of history at Brandeis University. It was an act of intellectual and academic bravery by him in the early 1990s to undertake a historical examination of this iconic story in American history. Pointing to the preference of contemporary historians to delve into causes such as social structures rather than events and the popularity among professional historians of multiculturalism and political correctness, Fischer candidly noted in his introduction: "As this volume goes to press, the only creature less fashionable in academe than the stereotypical 'dead white male,' is a dead white male on horseback." Lucky for us that Fischer had the character to pursue the events surrounding Revere's ride in spite of that academic narrow-mindedness; this is a truly fine historical narrative, a riveting account of the events of April 18, 1775.
Fischer's aim here is to see the coming of the American Revolution "as a series of contingent happenings, shaped by the choices of individual actors within the context of large cultural processes." He focuses on two actors in particular -- Paul Revere and General Thomas Gage, the commander in chief of British forces in America. Fischer wants to explain the series of events that lead up to the Revolution as a sequence of choices made by Revere, Gage, and many other leaders. The book is especially strong in showing Revere not as the solitary rider of mythology, but as a key organizer of collective effort leading up to the Revolution.
If you have enjoyed some of the great biographies of American figures by David McCullough (for example, JOHN ADAMS or TRUMAN), you'll enjoy this book. Fischer's work is not a biography, but he brings the historical figures to life here and tells a really compelling story. It's a historical page-turner. That is no small achievement.