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With clear prose and an eye for telling detail, Freedman narrates the 1773 destruction of British tea in Boston Harbor. Quoting heavily from the firsthand accounts from younger participants, Freedman provides a young person's view of the protest (which is somewhat limited in showing the larger context). Malone's crowd-filled watercolors in a tea-brown palette establish the setting nicely. Timeline. Bib., ind.
Russell Freedman establishes the Boston Tea Party’s historical significance while also relaying the experience of living through it—both as a direct participant and as a member of the larger Boston community. This isn’t just a story about political ramifications, Freedman reminds his readers; it’s a story about pride, community, and justice. As the Massachusetts Gazette reported the day after the event, “joy appeared in almost every countenance, some on account of the destruction of the tea, others on account of the quietness with which it was effected.” Atmospheric illustrations, often bathed in blue or amber light, provide varied perspectives. Peter Malone accompanies passages that relay general history with scenes that depict multitudes of ships or citizens. Personal accounts of the event are paired with more intimately scaled images: men painting themselves to look like “Mohawks” over a kitchen table and Thomas Melville (the future grandfather of Herman) finding tea leaves in his boot and bottling them for posterity as a memento of the night. The back matter is packed with interesting and helpful extras. An afterword describes how the Boston Tea Party led to the American Revolution; a bibliography explains that the history of the night is based “on the recollections of a few elderly men,” whose firsthand accounts were collected long after the actual event; and a short section on tea emphasizes its centrality to American colonial culture.
With clear prose and an eye for telling detail, Freedman (Lincoln: A Photobiography, rev. 3/88; Lafayette and the American Revolution, rev. 11/10) adds to his Library of American History series by narrating the destruction of British tea in Boston Harbor on December 16, 1773. Freedman quotes heavily from the firsthand accounts set down after 1827, perforce from younger participants, thus providing a young person’s view of the protest -- appealing for its audience but somewhat limited in showing the event’s larger context. (For older readers, Marc Aronson’s The Real Revolution [rev. 1/06] is invaluable.) Freedman’s telling reflects the current historical consensus with few missteps (young witness Joseph Lovering appears as Levering, and his master becomes his father). Artist Malone’s crowd-filled watercolors on pages in a tea-brown
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