The Boston Massacre

by Hiller B. Zobel

Book Overview

"In hard, tight, and exact language, disciplined by close reasoning and close documentation, and seasoned with a sharp sense of character and drama, Hiller B. Zobel has written a definitive account. . . . Full of gripping detail, a good deal of myth-shattering, and some discriminating reappraisals".--New York Times Book Review.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0393006069
• ISBN13: 9780393006063
• Release Date: January 1971
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Length: 383 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.

Customer Reviews

praise from fellow rev war author

good reading. I also recommend, on this topic, a YA novel by Ann Rinaldi titled The Fifth of March. - Gregory Edgar, author of 6 books on the Rev War

Fascinating History Replacing Legend and Propaganda

With his book The Boston Massacre, Hiller B. Zobel presents a masterful piece of reasoned, historical research to dispel one of the great myths surrounding the beginnings of the American Revolution. Zobel writes, "The Boston Massacre, in short, is a part, not only of our national history, but of our national mythology. ...Not the least of the Massacre's attractions as an object of historic contemplation is the speed with which the men of 1770 (on both sides of the Atlantic and both sides of the political fence) recognized the mythological value of what happened in King Street." Layer by layer, Zoble peels away myth and propaganda surrounding that infamous event of March fifth, 1770, so that we can view it clearly, apart from any partisan spin. What remains is an incident with little resemblance to the legend most of us learned in school. Zobel carefully and exhaustively explains the events that led up to the violence on King Street, and introduces us to all the principle players who influenced the drama. He details the Sugar Act, the Stamp Act, and the Customs Duties, all of which stirred up anger and resentment in Boston, and he tells of the violence and the threat of violence that was used by Boston's radical elements to try to counter these acts. Most importantly, he explains why the British soldiers were in Boston in the first place. (The Massachusetts Colony had no provision for an armed civil police force, and when mob violence threatened the laws and the peace as they did during the protests of the Stamp Act and Custom Duties, the only legal recourse to counter it was a military presence.) The picture of the Boston Massacre that emerges from Zobel's book is not the classic one of ruthless British soldiers callously firing on a peaceably gathered crowd of citizens as the legend has it. Rather, he paints a picture of frightened and confused troops, backed into a corner by an angry mob that already had a reputation for perpetuating violence, and firing in confusion rather than on order. The fact that the story came down to us in the form of the legend of righteous citizens attacked by evil soldiers owes much to the propaganda abilities of Samuel Adams, and little to facts as they happened. Just as carefully as he explained the events leading up to the massacre, Zobel details its aftermath, most notably the trial of the soldiers who fired on the mob. As an Associate Professor of Law at Boston College Law School, Zobel is well qualified to understand and dissect this chapter of the drama, and he explains it clearly and concisely. He shows us why John Adams took on the defense of the British soldiers, and why he won his case. Through detailing the records of the trial, he leaves the popular legend of the massacre in shreds. The Boston Massacre is an important book for understanding the events that ultimately brought the colonies to revolt. It is well researched, with a good bibliography. Zobel's writing is clear, and he has a knack for holding t

The Most Misnamed Event in American History

Hiller B. Zobel's The Boston Massacre has, for a few decades, been available as an example of American history as opposed to American mythology. The author is clear about the misrepresentations on both sides of the tension but it is his look at the ways in which the radicals controlled the town, the politics and the media through the use of the mob and terror tactics that is refreshing. Boston merchants and politicos, such as Samuel Adams, manipulated a situation for their own ends and began writing their own version right from the start. After the success of the American Revolution , this version would be enshrined as official history. The book starts slow and is a little dry and often confusing for those with with little previous knowledge of pre-Revolutionary Boston politics but it picks up speed and energy as it races toward the day of the Massacre itself. A refreshing look at an event that was small in historical impact but large in legend.

Very Well Written

This is a very readable account of the situation in Boston at the beggining of the revolutionary war. The various insurrections which lead to the Boston massacre are examined in a light which shows the revolutionaries as the drunken, violent mob that it indeed was. A very well written and balanced account of what is a very misunderstood and propagandized event.