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A review by pemuth59
The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams by Stacy Schiff
4.0
There's a difference between being a Founder and a Revolutionary. Samuel Adams was definitely the latter, but he left most of the founding to his more famous second cousin, John. And Stacy Schiff's excellent biography tells us that while revolution-making might sound like more fun than the founding stuff, it's certainly a lot more dangerous.
For the first half of the 1770s, Adams was the unquestioned insurrection leader. King George certainly though so. It was Adams he most wanted to see dangling by the neck on a British hill. Schiff will keep you turning pages as she details the thrilling derring-do that led to the declaration-writing and nation-building. And the story echoes in today's media universe. Adams was well ahead of his time in his mastery of mass communication and the impact of the symbolic. From naming the "Boston Massacre" to dressing a group of colonists as Native Americans for some serious tea dumping, Adams engineered a popular uprising that eventually led to a "united" states, which Schiff reminds us was no tea party in itself.
If you're familiar with Schiff's "The Witches," you're well aware of her remarkable storytelling skills, even when the story contains the actions of multitudes, whether it's hysterical, tragic witch hunting or fomenting revolution. And Adams isn't the easiest of subjects. We learn a lot about his actions, but it's harder to know his personal life. He doesn't seem to have stopped running long enough to put his inner thoughts down on paper. Schiff makes a heroic effort, but Adams' family and his feelings about them often gets lost in the fog of revolution.
Although he wasn't much of a brewer (and he hated to be called "Sam"), Schiff's great and immensely readable book recounts the saga of a irreplaceable patriot.
For the first half of the 1770s, Adams was the unquestioned insurrection leader. King George certainly though so. It was Adams he most wanted to see dangling by the neck on a British hill. Schiff will keep you turning pages as she details the thrilling derring-do that led to the declaration-writing and nation-building. And the story echoes in today's media universe. Adams was well ahead of his time in his mastery of mass communication and the impact of the symbolic. From naming the "Boston Massacre" to dressing a group of colonists as Native Americans for some serious tea dumping, Adams engineered a popular uprising that eventually led to a "united" states, which Schiff reminds us was no tea party in itself.
If you're familiar with Schiff's "The Witches," you're well aware of her remarkable storytelling skills, even when the story contains the actions of multitudes, whether it's hysterical, tragic witch hunting or fomenting revolution. And Adams isn't the easiest of subjects. We learn a lot about his actions, but it's harder to know his personal life. He doesn't seem to have stopped running long enough to put his inner thoughts down on paper. Schiff makes a heroic effort, but Adams' family and his feelings about them often gets lost in the fog of revolution.
Although he wasn't much of a brewer (and he hated to be called "Sam"), Schiff's great and immensely readable book recounts the saga of a irreplaceable patriot.