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 enlarge | Author: David Hackett Fischer
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Category: Book
List Price: $40.00
Buy Used: $5.90
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Rating:  71 reviews
Sales Rank: 440929
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 464
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.8
Dimensions (in): 9.6 x 6.4 x 1.3
ISBN: 0195088476
Dewey Decimal Number: 973.3311092
EAN: 9780195088472
ASIN: 0195088476
Publication Date: April 14, 1994
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Condition: Help save a tree. Buy all your used books from Green Earth Books. Read -> Recycle -> Reuse!
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| Customer Reviews:
 The Mercury of the American Revolution September 20, 2007
Seldom does an academic book reach across the aisle and become a classic of popular history as well. Mr. Fischer's "Paul Revere's Ride" does just that. "Ride" captures the reader with incredible little known anecdotes as well as flawless research and a smooth narrative flow. The theme of Fischer's book was that Revere's ride far from being a singular achievement was in reality a collective effort of a multitude of revolulutionaries throughout the colony. Simply put, in reading history, Americans must sometimes put the proverbial `rugged individualist' on the shelf and look at history as how it developed, rather then how we would like to see it happen. What attracted me to this book in the first place was Malcolm Gladwell's "The Tipping Point" in which Mr. Fischer's book is cited. Revere was a man who knew everyone in Boston and moved in many different circles. We often forget that great changes are not accomplished by the sole recluse theorist writing in his study, but rather as Mr. Fischer points out by "collective responsibilities of the group dynamic." In this, Revere and his fellow Whigs rejected the sort of individualist credo that would later find it's prophet in Thomas Jefferson.
Another fascinating portrait is General Thomas Gage, the largely ineffectual and philosophical libertarian leader of the British in Boston. One is tempted to think if Gage had a little more command and control structure that he could have countered the quickness of Revere and the minutemen especially in the late night of April 18, 1775 and the early morning hours of the next day. Throughout the book, the reader may wonder why Gage chose not to have Revere and co. arrested, but Gage felt he was bound to the Constitution just as any British overseer would be. Of course, Thomas Gage did not know the ending to this story and neither did any of the Colonists. In this General Gage and his governance was just one in a long line of ineffectual imperial military forces brought to their knees by a united, close knit community. Fischer concludes his book with a variety of appendices and fascinating data about how the burgeoning revolutionaries really worked. Of note is the author's historiography of the "Ride" taking it from the Whig's attempt to suppress it for being against the myth of "national innocence" to the 1960's revisionists attempt to destroy the "Ride" as one of the most well known symbols of the dead white male. Perhaps, the last word should belong to that shining beacon of the American political landscape in the 1920's: Warren G. Harding who said: "I love the story of Paul Revere, whether he rode or not."
 Everyone in America Should Read This Book! June 14, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I wish I could give it 10 'stars'! It is an entertaining read. It is unusual among history books in that the maps are actually useful, easy to understand and related to the text. The author writes the story so well, it almost reads like an entertaining novel. I definitely have a much greater appreciation of the events that sparked the American Revolution. I strongly urge everyone in America to read this book. It will change everything you never learned of American History in school.
Oh, by the way, I liked the book!
1st rate history that separates fact from the myth April 21, 2007
David Hackett Fisher should be praised for his mid 1990s work on Paul Revere. The book was written years before "Founding Brothers" and bios of John Adams and George Washington made it acceptable again to study and revere our nations' founders. During the 1960-1990s most university historians focused on debunking any patriotic constructions of the American Revolution. and instead focused on the underlying social and economic factors that drove the conflict.
The author bravely presents a rebuttal that individuals do matter in the course of history. While Paul Revere's role clearly became an iconic symbol of American independence following the war, his actual contributions should not be tossed aside as pure myth. By ignoring most original scholarship and instead relying mainly on hundreds of original accounts of the events of 1775, the author presents a vivid and analytical retelling of the opening shots of the American Revolution and the intimate role of Paul Revere.
While Paul Revere did not lead the Revolution, he did do more than ride a horse late one night. The complex layers of the American insurgency against British occupation are wonderfully described. In, addition to the telling of Paul Revere's ride, the book contains a lengthy discussion of the Battles of Lexington and Concord from both the British and American perspective.
While this is not "thee" book on the American Revolution, it never tries to be. Instead it is a deeply researched, highly readable narrative of the early days of the American Revolution and the actual events of the famous midnight ride. Well worth you time for anyone who enjoys American history.
Another Brilliant History by David Hackett Fischer December 12, 2006
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is brilliant book! It is, like any history written by David Hackett Fischer, extremely well researched and written and a tremendously compelling read.
Fischer focuses this history of the opening days of the American Revolutionary War on two figures; American Paul Revere and British General Thomas Gage. These individuals are used to examine the attitudes and culture of both sides as the war prepares to unfold and then explodes with a fury and intensity neither expected.
Fischer shows convincingly that the Americans were better prepared for the war than their British counterparts. Unlike the British, most Colonial military leaders and many of their soldiers were more experienced in warfare, having fought against the French and their indian allies in the Seven Years War, which preceded the Revolutionary War.
Fischer also dispels the myth of individual minutemen marching, fighting, and winning the first battle at Lexington and Concord. Instead, relatively well trained and drilled milita formations and regiments, alerted by a practiced system of riders, alert bells and musket and cannon shot, arrived in strength throughout the British march from Lexington and Concord back to Boston, inflicting a stinging defeat on Gage's men.
That luck had little to do with this was proven at the Battle of Bunker and Breed's hill, where well led militia inflicted more than a thousand casualties on the British. That battle prompted the British to send more troops and better commanders to America to pursue the war with increased intensity.
"Paul Revere's Ride" is recommended for any student - new or old - of the American Revolutionary War, especially for those who plan on visiting Lexington or Concord, where it all began.
A Layman's Reverance for Mr. Revere November 10, 2006
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
When I completed my reading of this text, I was the owner of unexpected information about and of profound respect for Paul Revere. David Hackett Fischer provided the reader with a depth of knowledge of Revere's implementation of his very own communications system. Revere organized a vast, fast, and efficient method of warning the countryside surrounding Boston of the intentions of the British Army. I, too, was one of millions who thougt Revere, himself, rode from village to village to warn that "the British are coming." Mr. Fishcer exposed that myth to be one of the worst ever foisted upon the American public. What Revere did accomplish, was to set in motion a well-disciplined group of riders who actually carried the message to the Boston hinterlands.
Also, I came away from the book with a deeper understanding of the forces that shaped the revolutionary zeal in Boston prior to 1776. Fischer's explanation of the people, both British and American, who were part and parcel of those forces, explains why so many Americans were opposed to British rule.
This book has a prominent place in my library and I look forward to reading it again and again. It is a clear and honest appraisal of the people and events that shaped Paul Revere's revolutionary spirit and his celebrated "ride."
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