Book is in good condition and may include underlining highlighting and minimal wear. The book can also include From the library of labels. May not contain miscellaneous items toys dvds etc. . We offer 100% money back guarantee and 24 7 customer service. Free 2-day shipping with Amazon Prime! Book is in good condition and may include underlining highlighting and minimal wear. The book can also include From the library of labels. May not contain miscellaneous items toys dvds etc. . We offer 100% money back guarantee and 24 7 customer service. Free 2-day shipping with Amazon Prime! See less

FREE delivery Wednesday, April 23 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35

Or Prime members get FREE delivery Monday, April 21. Order within 3 hrs 29 mins.

Only 1 left in stock - order soon.

$$17.59 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details

Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.

Enhancements you chose aren't available for this seller. Details

${cardName} not available for the seller you chose

${cardName} unavailable for quantities greater than ${maxQuantity}.

Sold by Zoom Books Company and Fulfilled by Amazon.

Other sellers on Amazon

New & Used (51) from $7.47 & FREE Shipping

Image Unavailable

Image not available for
Color:

To view this video download Flash Player

Follow the author

Serena R. Zabin

Follow

The Boston Massacre: A Family History Hardcover – February 18, 2020

by Serena Zabin (Author)

333 ratings

Editors' pick Best History

See all formats and editions

{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$17.59","priceAmount":17.59,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"17","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"59","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"%2B6AL70XsQMKdsOEiQjlvtgULcb%2FsYUoxqQeq5VYBXC6h2JC%2FjJj7YaNqtzqr2h8%2FQslvYo%2B5agGguYTIZjYtS%2FwOABlw7Pyuu9MTZcgTo%2FZXI%2Bi5HBeu0mX2AwnJ0ZoWKcBjgFS4A4zLlXEEpBsaNA%3D%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}, {"displayPrice":"$9.43","priceAmount":9.43,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"9","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"43","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"%2B6AL70XsQMKdsOEiQjlvtgULcb%2FsYUoxZyJa1%2FKIAGgqZjdxY8Bl5sXfZy5LaVfUK%2FcLpAMi8uWud%2F8YOQH%2F9S5FdKXJOxRL%2FAn95V0hiGrmvMy1cpzaMaK8pfikIfG3HQBG8ypaflWUhl7iar9mRSXPS7Dk3USl9%2BssgDWmoM5%2FeV7EK0C37na%2F4W%2BQsgpE","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":1}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

“Historical accuracy and human understanding require coming down from the high ground and seeing people in all their complexity. Serena Zabin’s rich and highly enjoyable book does just that.”—Kathleen DuVal, Wall Street Journal

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.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

An Amazon Best Book of February 2020: This book’s subtitle, “A Family History,” sends a clear signal that this isn’t your usual Boston Massacre story—and thank goodness for history professor Serena Zabin’s interest in digging deeper into the 1770 event that pivoted the American colonies closer to revolution. With an eye for the attention-arresting detail, Zabin follows a dozen key players as British troops are first housed among the tax-resistant Bostonians in an antagonistic 1768 decision by the army’s officers, and then begin to desert into the New England countryside in record numbers. At the same time, Zabin highlights the juicy stories of soldiers’ marriages to local lasses, soldiers’ wives’ attempts to keep their families together, and drunken scuffles on the street to examine the complicated relationships that propagated during the British regiments’ years in Boston. Diary entries, personal letters to friends and fiery letters to newspapers, sarcastic ditties sung at social events, and court and church records expose the complex interactions between the residents of Boston and the soldiers encamped among them. Zabin’s sense of humor, her interest in exploring historical crannies others have ignored, and a firm grasp of human behavior make The Boston Massacre a lively and convincing history that illuminates an oft-cited incident in a new and exhilarating way. —Adrian Liang, Amazon Book Review

Review

“A lively gem of a book that expands our view of early-modern military life, pre-revolutionary Boston, and, in turn, the American Revolution.” — Washington Post

"A well-written, thoroughly interesting addition to the social history of the American Colonies." — Kirkus Reviews

"Penetrating and lyrical, Zabin’s Boston Massacre offers startling revelations on every page. To read this “family history” is to tread the cobbled streets of eighteenth-century British America, peering into shops, barracks, bedrooms, and government halls along the way. Zabin’s account ripples far beyond Boston on the vexed night of March 5, 1770, offering fresh understandings of the cause of liberty and its consequences. The American Revolution—indeed, early urban warfare itself—will never look the same." — Jane Kamensky, Trumbull Professor of American History, Harvard University, and author of A Revolution in Color: The World of John Singleton Copley

"Zabin’s engaging history adds nuance and complexity to the political and social aspects of the American Revolution." — Booklist

“A compelling history of the Boston Massacre, weaving personal stories together to present a comprehensive view of this turning point incident." — Library Journal

"Historical accuracy and human understanding require coming down from the high ground and seeing people in all their complexity. Serena Zabin’s rich and highly enjoyable book does just that." — Kathleen DuVal, Wall Street Journal

"An intimate, complex, and moving picture of the friendships and family connections between Britons and Bostonians, in the throes of revolutionary change. Zabin’s eloquent account illuminates the ways in which the actors in this nation-making and empire-breaking drama experienced the rupture and transformation of the world they made together.” — Peter S. Onuf, author, with Annette Gordon-Reed, of Most Blessed of the Patriarchs: Thomas Jefferson and the Empire of the Imagination

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Mariner Books; Illustrated edition (February 18, 2020)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 320 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0544911156
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0544911154
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.14 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.25 x 1.25 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #132,999 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #299 in U.S. Revolution & Founding History
- #1,017 in Sociology Reference
- #1,298 in U.S. State & Local History

Customer Reviews:
333 ratings

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Videos

Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video!

Upload your video

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Serena R. Zabin

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read book recommendations and more.

Customer reviews

333 global ratings

How customer reviews and ratings work

Review this product

Write a customer review

Customers say

Customers find the book well-researched and thoroughly written, with one review noting how it fills in many details about the Boston Massacre. Moreover, they appreciate its readability and historical content, with one customer highlighting its coverage of Boston and the British Army. Additionally, the storytelling receives positive feedback, with one review describing how it captures the lives of people during a time of turmoil. However, the pacing receives mixed reactions, with one customer finding it repetitive.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

Select to learn more

Depth Readability History Storytelling Pacing

12 customers mention "Depth"12 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the depth of the book, finding it well researched and wonderfully told, with one customer noting how it fills in many details.

"...of Boston interacted with those soldiers and their families is well-researched, thorough, and convincing...." Read more

"The author researches a fascinating topic -- the social and familial connections between Bostonians and the occupying British troops in the city..." Read more

"...to both inform her audience through her masterful storytelling, in-depth analyses, and witty quips...." Read more

"...It only mentions the massacre as a reference or side note. Lots of good information about what lead up to the massacre, but not too detailed as an..." Read more

11 customers mention "Readability"11 positive0 negative

Customers find the book enjoyable to read.

"This is a great book for a number of reasons...." Read more

"...This is an excellent read - the author, Serena Zabin, really puts flesh on the bones of those who were living in Boston from the 1760s leading up to..." Read more

"Highly recommend this book. As a Bostonian, every year with school we went to see the site of the Boston Massacre...." Read more

"...I learned from it, and it made me want to learn more — the sign of a good book. Highly recommended." Read more

6 customers mention "History"6 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the historical content of the book, with one mentioning its focus on Boston and the British Army.

"Reading this account of the British army in Boston revealed many new thoughts and impressions...." Read more

"...perspective of the Boston Massacre; truly a fresh new look at this important historical event. Great story telling, fun read and highly recommended!" Read more

"Uncovered History Is The Best History..." Read more

"Great history lessons..." Read more

4 customers mention "Storytelling"4 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the storytelling in the book, with one mentioning how it captures the lives of real people during a time of turmoil.

"...Zabin really knew how to both inform her audience through her masterful storytelling, in-depth analyses, and witty quips...." Read more

"...These were real people, leading real lives in a time of turmoil." Read more

"This book is impeccably researched and a joy to read. The narrative is engaging, the argument is clear, and it will completely reframe your..." Read more

"...Great story telling, fun read and highly recommended!" Read more

3 customers mention "Pacing"0 positive3 negative

Customers find the pacing of the book boring and repetitive.

"I thought this book was dull. I had to force myself to finish it." Read more

"Not entirely engaging. The relationship development lacked depth...." Read more

"Very boring and repetitive." Read more

Reviews with images

See all photos

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews. Please reload the page.

M. Benjamin
Wonderful Recreation of Colonial Boston
Reviewed in the United States on October 7, 2020
Verified Purchase

This is a great book for a number of reasons. There have been several books out recently that have studied or at least mentioned the Boston Massacre (including Eric Hinderaker's book entitled "Boston's Massacre," but Ms. Zabin's new book is impressive in the way that it relates the condition of the actual city of Boston and its inhabitants to the reader.

Ms. Zabin re-creates the Boston of 1770 in the reader's eye better than any other treatment I've read (in fact I believe I read recently that she has been working on a video game set in colonial Boston that rebuilds the city as it would have looked in the 1770s), and follows the record of a number of British soldiers and their families who were ultimately assigned to Boston. Her description of camp life and the numerous ways in which residents of Boston interacted with those soldiers and their families is well-researched, thorough, and convincing. She follows the units from their station in the Isles, to Nova Scotia, and finally to Boston, and does a wonderful job laying out the gradual development of tension within the city leading up to March 5, 1770. Her handling of the actual event, and the trial that played out, are equally informative.

In short, "The Boston Massacre: A Family History" is a close-up look at the people involved with that famous incident that truly does look at the players and families involved. I can't think of another book I've read that provided such a fresh and original take on such a well-known, but not so well understood, incident in American history. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in learning more about the Boston Massacre.

Read more

13 people found this helpful

Helpful

Report
N. B. Kennedy
Both too much and not enough
Reviewed in the United States on May 18, 2020
Verified Purchase
The author researches a fascinating topic -- the social and familial connections between Bostonians and the occupying British troops in the city leading up to the Boston Massacre of 1770, in which five Bostonians were killed. Her viewpoint illuminates the muddied waters between the factions. Too often we have a simplistic view of the American Revolution as the Patriots vs. the Redcoats. It must have been heartrending to have to choose sides in that time and place.

That said, it seems like there wasn't enough material to stretch out into a book. The same points are repeatedly stated and much of the material is conjecture. I don't discount the book for that reason -- I know how hard it is to find sources from long-ago events, especially accounts of women's lives. Women are only now starting to make it into the history books. Because the author attempts to unearth stories about women, I'll grant another star.

I also would have appreciated reading more about the massacre itself. Maybe I'm the only one, but I didn't know much about it. The author starts in with little detail about the massacre and a long-winded description of Paul Revere's version of the original artist's woodcut of the event. The two versions aren't shown side-by-side, so right away I was lost, and I didn't even understand the importance of the details as I was unfamiliar with the event. I looked up the massacre online, so that I'd have some background and be able to finish the book without the distraction of missing information.

Read more

24 people found this helpful

Helpful

Report
Luz A. Arévalo
Uncovered History Is The Best History
Reviewed in the United States on March 27, 2020
Verified Purchase
Author Serena Zabin really knew how to both inform her audience through her masterful storytelling, in-depth analyses, and witty quips. Most people assume that the events of the Boston Massacre were a result of black and white (Bostonians vs. British Soldiers) hatred and resentment. Zabin paints a story much more nuanced, revealing a much more believable story where Bostonians thought of themselves as another city in the British Empire, and the soldiers stationed in Boston were not resented or hated except by the Sons of Liberty.

Another important point this book tackles is the systematic erasure of women and children from the popular narrative of early revolutionary history. Zabin brings to light the necessity armies have for women, and the fact that women brought with them children who were baptized or neighbors to Boston residents.

Zabin is telling us the true, uncovered history, one where Bostonians and soldiers were individuals who were suddenly ripped apart by the events of the Boston Massacre.

Read more

12 people found this helpful

Helpful

Report
therover
A wonderful book, but misleading in name.
Reviewed in the United States on February 3, 2021
Verified Purchase
Reading this account of the British army in Boston revealed many new thoughts and impressions. However, the book should be called, British occupation of Boston: Soldiers and Families. It only mentions the massacre as a reference or side note. Lots of good information about what lead up to the massacre, but not too detailed as an incident in itself. A look at life in Boston from the British side.

Read more

4 people found this helpful

Helpful

Report
Historical Ken
18th Century Boston Brought Vividly To Life
Reviewed in the United States on July 20, 2020
Verified Purchase
I love the manner in which these new history books are being written.
This is an excellent read - the author, Serena Zabin, really puts flesh on the bones of those who were living in Boston from the 1760s leading up to the event of March 5, 1770, and what happened after; people involved in both sides of the conflict, from the soldiers to General Preston to the average citizen of Boston, are brought vividly to life though deep primary source research. As I read in another review, "We see the soldiers jostling with Bostonians for living space, finding common cause in the search for a lost child, trading barbs and and sharing baptisms. Becoming, in other words, neighbors."
And then what happened afterward - the soldiers forced to leave Boston, the imprisonment of the accused, the families involved...
I absolutely love the way the author has detailed descriptions of the world of 18th century Boston and its citizens, much in the same way that David Hackett Fischer does in his own book, Paul Revere's Ride.
Oh! The power of the well-written word...bringing the past to life.

Read more

9 people found this helpful

Helpful

Report
pyrattitude
Great history lessons
Reviewed in the United States on May 8, 2021
Verified Purchase
Highly recommend this book. As a Bostonian, every year with school we went to see the site of the Boston Massacre. This story fills in a whole lot of details. These were real people, leading real lives in a time of turmoil.

Read more

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Report

Follow the author

The Boston Massacre: A Family History Hardcover – February 18, 2020

Purchase options and add-ons

Frequently bought together

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Review

About the Author

Product details

Videos

About the author

Serena R. Zabin

Customer reviews

Review this product

Customers say

Select to learn more

Images in this review

Reviews with images

History nerd approved!

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews. Please reload the page.

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Recreation of Colonial Boston

4.0 out of 5 stars Both too much and not enough

5.0 out of 5 stars Uncovered History Is The Best History

3.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful book, but misleading in name.

5.0 out of 5 stars 18th Century Boston Brought Vividly To Life

5.0 out of 5 stars Great history lessons

Wonderful Recreation of Colonial Boston

Both too much and not enough

Uncovered History Is The Best History

A wonderful book, but misleading in name.

18th Century Boston Brought Vividly To Life

Great history lessons