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A review by sevenlefts
Bunker Hill: A City, a Siege, a Revolution by Nathaniel Philbrick
4.0
I'm a fan of Philbrick's having read several of his books (In the Heart of the Sea, The Last Stand, Why Read Moby Dick?) and I knew this one would be good, although I wasn't as psyched about the subject matter. I should have known that he can write engagingly on just about any topic.
The title is a bit misleading. Although the Battle of Bunker Hill would seem to be the major topic of the book from the title, the battle is really just the centerpiece around which the story of Boston's role in the beginnings of the American Revolution is arranged. The first part of the book talks about the earlier conflicts (the Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party) and then goes into greater detail around the battles of Lexington and Concord. The final third of the book centers on the Americans' siege and the British evacuation of Boston.
As usual, Philbrick is able to take the pieces of which history is made, which can bring on yawns when considered individually (eg., troop movements, diary entries), and pulls them all together into a compelling and cohesive narrative. The epilogue, in which a very famous witness to these events looks back on them 68 years later, gave me chills.
The title is a bit misleading. Although the Battle of Bunker Hill would seem to be the major topic of the book from the title, the battle is really just the centerpiece around which the story of Boston's role in the beginnings of the American Revolution is arranged. The first part of the book talks about the earlier conflicts (the Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party) and then goes into greater detail around the battles of Lexington and Concord. The final third of the book centers on the Americans' siege and the British evacuation of Boston.
As usual, Philbrick is able to take the pieces of which history is made, which can bring on yawns when considered individually (eg., troop movements, diary entries), and pulls them all together into a compelling and cohesive narrative. The epilogue, in which a very famous witness to these events looks back on them 68 years later, gave me chills.