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History Happy Hour

Episode 81: Lexington and Concord

Paul Revere’s Ride, David Hackett Fischer

The finest book I have read on the events surrounding April 1775. Fischer does an amazing job of explaining how the Patriots “controlled the narrative” and communicated in the months leading up to the outbreak of revolution and after the “shot heard around the world,” was fired. An outstanding book.

The Minutemen and Their World, Robert Gross

Gross’s book is an oldie but a goodie. While his historical narrative of events in New England are good, the book’s real strength is the window it gives on the social and economic conditions in New England before the war. Valuable insights on colonial life.

The Minutemen: The First Fights: Myths and Realities of the American Revolution, John R. Galvin

Probably the best minute by minute account of Battle Road that I’ve read. Galvin, a career soldier, provides an analysis of the minutemen, their organization, training and effectiveness that is illuminating and original.

American Spring: Lexington, Concord and the Road to Revolution, Walter Borneman

Places the events of 1775 in a larger colonial and international context. Reading it you feel just how tenuous the patriot cause was. Good, solid, popular history.

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