The Boston Massacre

A Family History

By: Serena Zabin

Narrated by: Andrea Gallo

A 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 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’s The Boston Massacre delivers an indelible new slant on iconic American Revolutionary history.

©2020 Serena Zabin (P)2020 Recorded Books

Understanding the soldiers

The deeply researched book provides important insights into the lives of British soldiers, their families, and connections with civilian populations.

Absolutely loved it

A must-buy book for anyone interested in the American Revolution. Zabin introduces a new perspective on an old story that is captivating from start to finish.

Worthwhile

The material may be a little narrow to draw general conclusions about what takes place in the years following the Massacre. But it certainly adds greatly to an understanding of environment in Boston on March 5, 1770, and a somewhat different picture than the Revere engraving.

More massacre less family

This book really focuses on the British point of view and does little to contrast the civilians like crispus attucks, the title was misleading but it was a great historical analysis of the trials of the British soldiers, draws parallels to soldiers of modern times and the sacrifice to be separated from family.

I recommend this title

Mishmash of quotes, not a story

I was excited to learn something new about the Boston Massacre, but the whole book could be summed up by saying, “Some of the people of Boston and some of the troops got close and intermingled. Some didn’t”. Narrator didn’t help the cause with her unpleasing voice.