Boston, 1776

What was Boston really like in 1776? In this all-access tour of the birth city of America, we relive the chaos, courage, and color of this historical time and place while meeting those who led the fight in America’s War for Independence, to be published in honor of our nation’s 250th anniversary Welcome to Revolution City—where the air smells of tar, booze, gunpowder . . . and rebellion.

In Boston, 1776, acclaimed historian J.D. Dickey leads readers through the turbulent streets, tub-thumping taverns, and radical strongholds of a town at war with an empire. Far from the powdered wigs and genteel tea parties of history textbooks, this book guides readers through the real Boston of the American Revolution: chaotic, dangerous, and fiercely alive. Join the crowds in taprooms where rebel plots were hatched. Stand near the hacked-up remains of the Liberty Tree. Witness mobs rise up over the price of bread, watch patriots sharpen bayonets on Bunker Hill, cheer as Loyalists get tarred-and-feathered, drink the rum made on the city docks, sample the sinful in the city’s back alleys, and gaze at John Hancock’s mansion gleaming above gritty streets filled with the town almshouse, workhouse, and jail. From the harbor wharves and seedy brothels to renowned assembly halls like the Old South Church and Faneuil Hall, Boston, 1776 takes readers through the Revolutionary War’s capital city in vivid detail. At every stop along the way, readers encounter iconic names like Revere and Adams, but also the forgotten men and women who bled and brawled for freedom in Boston’s every corner. Timed for America’s 250th anniversary, Boston, 1776 portrays the Cradle of Liberty and the American Revolution as never before: raw, radical, and roaring with life.

Author Biography

JD Dickey is an author of narrative nonfiction about American history, society, and culture. His book Empire of Mud, covering the troubled landscape of 19th century Washington, DC, was a New York Times bestseller, and his Civil War book Rising in Flames was praised by the Wall Street Journal as “absolutely spellbinding.” Dickey has written articles on a broad range of historical, political, and travel-related topics for TIME, the Wall Street Journal, LitHub, and more, and he has appeared in media from C-SPAN’s Book TV to Public Radio International’s The Takeaway. He has lectured for the New-York Historical Society, the Pritzker Military Museum and Library, the Atlanta History Center, and the US Army War College.