Bunker Hill: A City, a Siege, a Revolution - Hardcover

Philbrick, Nathaniel

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 085752044X ISBN 13: 9780857520449

Publisher: Doubleday, 2013

Synopsis

What lights the spark that ignites a revolution?

Lost in the story of America's path to independence is the tumultuous nature of that nation's origins: the interplay of ideologies and personalities that provoked a group of merchants, farmers, artisans, and sailors to take up arms in pursuit of liberty . . .

A city of 15,000 inhabitants packed onto a land-connected island a little over one square mile, Boston in 1775 was also - following a series of incendiary incidents by patriotic citizens and trouble-seeking vigilantes - a city occupied by the British. In the year following the infamous Tea Party an uneasy peace had reigned, but on 19th April 1775, violence erupted, with skirmishes at Lexington and Concord. Two months later, with the city cut off by British forces, these clashes reached a bloody climax in an encounter that would mark the point of no return for the rebellious colonists: the Battle of Bunker Hill.

With a keen sense of the unexplored side of mythic events, Nathaniel Philbrick shines fresh light on this momentous story, revealing new key players and finding unknown sides to familiar ones. The real work of choreographing the rebellion fell to physician Joseph Warren (fated to die at Bunker Hill) while others include Warren's fiancee - the poet Mercy Scollay, Paul Revere and a notable new recruit to the Revolutionary cause, an elegant Virginian called George Washington. On the British side, reluctant combatant General Thomas Gage was succeeded by the bellicose William Howe who would lead three charges at Bunker Hill and preside over the claustrophobic cauldron of a city under siege.

Written with passion, insight, even-handedness and the eloquence of a born storyteller, Bunker Hill brings to life the robust, chaotic and blisteringly real origins of America.

About this title

Review

"A notable merit of his account of the birth of the American revolution is its fairmindedness . . . readable and sensible." (Max Hastings SUNDAY TIMES)

"Vivid, realistic and sometimes shocking . . . [character] is certainly the animating spirit of this fine narrative history and, in a sprawling, vibrant cast, the character that emerges most forcefully is that of the city of Boston itself: tumultuous, vigorous and fascinating." (Ben McIntyre THE TIMES)

"Admirably even-handed . . . this perceptive account." (Andrew Roberts MAIL ON SUNDAY)

"Brilliantly told. Philbrick is a master narrator who has deployed every ounce of his considerable skill . . . to find the lifeblood of early America" (THE TIMES)

"This is popular history at its best: a taut narrative with a novelist's touch, grounded in careful research." (MIAMI HERALD)

Book Description

Sunday Times bestselling author of In the Heart of the Sea and The Last Stand Nathaniel Philbrick turns to the visceral and dramatic beginnings of one of the most significant episodes in American and British history: the American Revolution.

About this edition

• Publisher: Doubleday
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 085752044X
• ISBN 13: 9780857520449
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 416