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Bunker Hill  By  cover art

Bunker Hill

By: Nathaniel Philbrick
Narrated by: Chris Sorensen
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Publisher's summary

The best-selling author of In the Heart of the Sea, Mayflower, and In the Hurricane's Eye tells the story of the Boston battle that ignited the American Revolution, in this "masterpiece of narrative and perspective" (Boston Globe).

In the opening volume of his acclaimed American Revolution series, Nathaniel Philbrick turns his keen eye to pre-Revolutionary Boston and the spark that ignited the American Revolution. In the aftermath of the Boston Tea Party and the violence at Lexington and Concord, the conflict escalated and skirmishes gave way to outright war in the Battle of Bunker Hill. It was the bloodiest conflict of the revolutionary war, and the point of no return for the rebellious colonists. Philbrick gives us a fresh view of the story and its dynamic personalities, including John Adams, Samuel Adams, John Hancock, Paul Revere, and George Washington. With passion and insight, he reconstructs the revolutionary landscape - geographic and ideological - in a mesmerizing narrative of the robust, messy, blisteringly real origins of America.

©2013 Nathaniel Philbrick (P)2013 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"Masterly.... Philbrick tells the complex story superbly." (Wall Street Journal)

"A masterpiece of narrative and perspective...." (Boston Globe)

"You will delight in the story and the multitude of details Philbrick offers up." (USA Today)

What listeners say about Bunker Hill

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Another Fantastic Story by Philbrick

Phlegm, Bile, Black Blood and Red Blood. My God! How did we ever make it as a race let alone a country? That little tie bit is just a taste of some of the rocks Mr. Philbrick has overturned to give us the story behind Bunker Hill and the hardships the American Patriots overcame to become the United States. People like (Dr.) Warren, and Church, Washington and Adams as well as countless other took on the 18th century just as ardent as the themselves. The redcoats were really no match then, were they?

I'm never disappointed when I read a Philbrick book. Whether he tells of the wooden whaling ships on the high seas or the same on an expedition. The story behind the Mayflower or Custer's last stand, he never lets the reader down. Bunker Hill is just another fine example of the writer sharing a story in a way that makes sense to the reader without dumbing it down, and without the endless ramble of how we got from page 1 to page 2..

This book was enjoyable, finishing it in about a weekend. And a big part of that goes to Mr. Chris Sorenson whose even tone and inflection made the book even easier to read/listen to. For a moment, I thought I was hearing Dylan Baker (Steve Jobs) which I read/listened to 3 times. Very easy on the ears. Well done!

This book is a credit well spent, and well worth the 12 hours to hear. Traveling in a few weeks, I may pop it in again!

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57 people found this helpful

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Excellent Narrative of The Period

The Battle of Bunker Hill. Most Americans have heard of this famous battle. June 17, 1775, the British forces led by General William Howe attacked the newly fortified Colonial position on Breed’s Hill and were repulsed on the first two attempts. On the third attempt the Colonial forces were finally forced to pull back due to lack of powder. The battle was not a large battle, fewer than 6,000 soldiers were involved. This would have been considered barely a skirmish in Europe. Yet this fight lives on in American legend.

Nathaniel Philbrick turns his talent to the story of this famous battle. He starts the book well before the events of that fateful day. He recounts the struggles between the colonial population and the British government over issues such as taxation. He gives a lot of detail about the nature and use of mob violence in colonial world. Philbrick spends a lot of time on this subject. He paints a rather terrifying spectacle of these mobs. One of the stories he relates is of an outspoken supporter of government policy who is taken from his home, dragged through the town, tarred, feathered, beaten, and almost hanged before the crowd is through with him.

There are two prominent characters in this book that we don’t hear enough about today: Joseph Warren and Samuel Adams. These were the two primary leaders in the anti-government movement. Samuel Adams, the elder of the two was a well known rabble rouser. He understood how to work the crowds and to use every situation to his advantage. Joseph Warren was one of the most respected physicians in Boston. He was also dedicated to the cause of liberty. He was, by all accounts, a great orator and a tireless worker on behalf of the cause. Philbrick spends a lot of time speculating as to whether he fathered a child by a maid. This may be the weakest part of the book. It really doesn’t matter whether or not Warren fathered this child and it does nothing to tell the story.

A good amount of the book deals with the lead up to the British march on Lexington and Concord, and with the actual fights on that April day. I was not aware of the British atrocities committed on the retreat to Boston until I read this book. Many of the dead Americans were civilians who were simply murdered by the British who were enraged over being forced to retreat.

Philbrick spends a lot of time on the battle itself. The main part of the battle was actually fought on Breed’s Hill, not Bunker Hill. The colonial forces were supposed to fortify Bunker Hill, but went to far forward and dug in to a less defensible position on Breed’s Hill. The British success drove the colonial forces off of Breed’s Hill and then Bunker Hill. It was in the defense of Breed’s Hill that Joseph Warren has killed. His loss was felt strongly by all who knew him.

Philbrick is a very good writer and knows how to keep the narrative flowing. He has found a lot of interesting stories and a lot of interesting characters. This is an easy to read, enjoyable book that can read with little or no background knowledge of the subject.

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38 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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Good but a little boring

I enjoyed listening to this book, but overall I did not learn very much except about Joseph Warren perhaps, and it was a little disjointed as sometimes the timeline jumped around. This is a non-fiction and I was actually expecting a bit of non-fiction. If you have not read many other books about 1775 Mass or the Siege of Boston this is a great way to start, but you might have to write down or look up some timelines to make sure you know where you are.

The performance was solid and definitely kept me interested - a boring performance would have made this book less appealing.

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22 people found this helpful

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Riveting.

Slow start and the reader isn't quite as good as valiant ambition but it gathers steam and the end is unputdownable. The characters and the action comes to life. Brilliant if the revolutionary war is of any interest to you at all

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20 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Liberté, piété, prostituées!

"Boston was known for its love of liberty, its piety, and its prostitutes."
- Nathaniel Philbrick, Bunker Hill

I'm an unapologetic fan of Nathaniel Philbrick. I've enjoyed his maritime histories: In the Heart of the Sea, Sea of Glory, Mayflower, etc., but I've also started appreciating his New England histories. Mayflower was actually not just about the Pilgrims and the Mayflower, but was also a solid history of King Philip's War.

Philbrick has moved solidly into the popular (find his books at Costco and Walmart) and award-winning historian category with others like of McCullough, Ellis, and Kearns Goodwin. I haven't read his history of the Little Big Horn yet, but now that I've finished a non-maritime history by Philbrick, I'm completely comfortable that he can write on land as well as on sea.

The book, like his history of the Mayflower, expands beyond the history of the title. The actual history is focused on Boston from 1773 to the evacuation of Bunker Hill in March of 1776, so it includes Lexington & Concord, the Battle of Bunker Hill, the Siege of Boston, and the fortification of Dorchester Heights. My greatest thrill with this book is the focus it give to General Joseph Warren. He, in my opinion, is underappreciated by most Americans for his contributions to the Revoutionary War. If he hadn't died prematurely, he would have easily been ranked up there with Hamilton, Washington, and Jefferson. He was a polymath and amazing.

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19 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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A dull slog

This book was not very good. The narrative is uninteresting and there is not much fresh analysis. Also, the narrator reads in a dull monotone that makes it hard to follow. I really enjoyed Philbrick's "In The Heart Of The Sea", but I was very disappointed in this one. My advice is to listen to something by McCullough or Ellis instead if you want a good audiobook on the revolutionary period.

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18 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
  • jb
  • 01-16-16

not Philbrick's best

Only Philbrick's writing could inspire me to continue with this "worst history professor" narration! Not sure i can keep going but I really hope to.

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13 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Fascinating and Detailed

So far I've listened to it twice! This is an incredible book for a history buff. I loved the details about the battles and the way they were regarded by the participants. Well worth 'reading' and enjoying - this is a permanent part of my library now.

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Should be required reading...

Living within an hour of Bunker and Breed's Hills, this story resonated with me perhaps a bit more than most. In these times, being aware of our country's history-the sacrifices and noble goals which shaped it from its onset-is something every school child should intimately know. I found it refreshing to revisit my local-and our early history-once again.

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10 people found this helpful

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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

PC nonsense masquerading as history

A book full of conjecture without any real historical research to back it up. Takes the point of view of British murderers and portrays them as heroes. Portrays all of the Americans as deficient in some way or another at best and, villains at worst.

These misharacterizations and many historical irrelevancies become more and more important to the author as this thin book goes on. Tedious, boring, and inaccurate.

Not worth even one minute of your time.

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8 people found this helpful