A Short History of Boston

By Robert J. Allison and James Aloisi

Book Overview

Until 2004 and the publication of A Short History of Boston, there was no good short history of the city of Boston, not in print anyway. With economy and style, Dr. Robert Allison brings Boston history alive, from the Puritan theocracy of the seventeenth century to the Big Dig of the twenty-first. His book includes a wealth of illustrations, a lengthy chronology of the key events in four centuries of Boston history, and twenty short profiles of exceptional Bostonians, from founder John Winthrop to heavyweight champion John L. Sullivan, from heretic Anne Hutchinson to Russian-American author Mary Antin. Says the Provincetown Arts, A first-rate short history of the city, lavishly illustrated, lovingly written, and instantly the best book of its kind.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1889833479
• ISBN13: 9781889833477
• Release Date: February 2004
• Publisher: Commonwealth Editions
• Length: 128 Pages
• Weight: 0.51 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.9" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Lots of information, suboptimal writing flow

I agree with the previous reviewer that there is a lot of information packed into this slim volume, and it would indeed make a great jumping-off point for learning more -- you can peruse this book for what interests you, and then trundle over to the Boston Public Library to dig for more details. That said, I did not find the writing in this book to flow very well. Informative, yes, but not a very pleasant read. I suspect that an editing overhaul... reword this sentence, rearrange that paragraph, etc... would make the book not only informative but much more enjoyable to consume.

Short and densely packed

I purchased this book to get a little more connected to my adopted home. The book is crammed full of information in its slim 128 pages. Space does not allow any topic to be reviewed in full detail. But, on many pages I found myself saying, "Wow, that's really interesting. I'd love to read more about that." A Short History of Boston is a great launching pad to more study of Boston's nearly 400 years of history.