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As If an Enemy's Country: The British Occupation of Boston and the Origins of Revolution (Pivotal Moments in American History) |  | Author: Richard Archer
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
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Rating:  5 reviews
Sales Rank: 47948
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 304
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.5 x 1.3
ISBN: 0195382471
Dewey Decimal Number: 973.3
EAN: 9780195382471
ASIN: 0195382471
Publication Date: February 8, 2010
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
In the dramatic few years when colonial Americans were galvanized to resist British rule, perhaps nothing did more to foment anti-British sentiment than the armed occupation of Boston. As If an Enemy's Country is Richard Archer's gripping narrative of those critical months between October 1, 1768 and the winter of 1770 when Boston was an occupied town.
Bringing colonial Boston to life, Archer deftly moves between the governor's mansion and cobblestoned back-alleys as he traces the origins of the colonists' conflict with Britain. He reveals the maneuvering of colonial political leaders such as Governor Francis Bernard, Lieutenant Governor Thomas Hutchinson, and James Otis Jr. as they responded to London's new policies, and he evokes the outrage many Bostonians felt towards Parliament and its local representatives.
Archer captures the popular mobilization under the leadership of John Hancock and Samuel Adams that met the oppressive imperial measures--most notably the Sugar Act and the Stamp Act--with demonstrations, Liberty Trees, violence, and non-importation agreements. When the British government decided to garrison Boston with troops, it posed a shocking challenge to the people of Massachusetts. The city was flooded with troops; almost immediately, tempers flared and violent conflicts broke out. Archer's vivid tale culminates in the swirling tragedy of the Boston Massacre and its aftermath, including the trial and exoneration of the British troops involved.
A thrilling and original work of history, As If an Enemy's Country tells the riveting story of what made the Boston townspeople, and with them other colonists, turn toward revolution.
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| Customer Reviews:
 The how and why the American Revolution began where and when it did April 21, 2010
Bruce Trinque (Amston, CT United States)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
Richard Archer's "As If an Enemy's Country: The British Occupation of Boston and the Origins of Revolution" details the how and why the American Revolution broke out where and when it did. The British military occupation of Boston in the late 1760s , as presented in this book, was the key event that radicalized regional politics and gave birth to a permanent coalition of previously separate power bases and political forces. The notorious Stamp Act and taxes on tea and other imports all played an integral role in the development of events, of course, but it was the display of naked military force thrust into a civilian community that went beyond all else in laying the groundwork for April, 1775. British ministries and military leadership were confident that dissent would be quashed by stationing a few thousand troops in a continual, highly visual presence. Instead, the tactic fed fuel into the fire and dramatically demonstrating that the British government viewed the American colonists not as true Englishmen but as a distinctly separate and inferior Other. Revolution was no longer unthinkable.
Archer's account of these events is both revealing and riveting, showing them as complexities with fascinating characters too often lost in quick surveys of the historical past.
Enlightening Chronolog May 12, 2010
Fred Higgs (Nampa, Idaho USA)
This book has many points of our history that lead one to see how incidents and deeds led to the birth of our revolution and growth.
As If an Enemy's Country February 5, 2010
Sacramento Book Review (Sacramento, CA)
22 out of 24 found this review helpful
Much of the American Revolution has been romanticized and elevated to near myth that we forget that how with minor changes it could have never happened. Thirteen colonies that had their own animosities toward one another coordinated rebellion against the most powerful empire in the world to eventually succeed? It sounds ridiculous. Richard Archer's //As If an Enemy's Country// helps dispel the mythic aspects of the American Revolution and shows how in just one small state and mainly in one city, Boston, the seeds of revolution were sown. Archer details how it was not inevitable that Massachusetts, or New York, Pennsylvania, or any of the colonies would eventually go to war to separate themselves from the British Empire. Decisions that were made by the colonial governor, British officers, and the elites of Boston backed by artisans, laborers, and sailors helped shape Bostonians as a people with their own identity. //As If an Enemy's Country// is not for the lay historian; it isn't a book that you pick up to browse and learn a little; this is a serious historical analysis rich in details, primary sources, and the minutiae that make up our history. Excellent, but not for everyone.
Reviewed by Jonathon Howard
A Historic Microcosm, A Valuable Lesson May 12, 2010
Dr. Debra Jan Bibel (Oakland, CA USA)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
History, despite the series of great, often socially cataclysmic, events taught in school or emphasized by civic commemorizations, is composed of increments and a nexus of myriad causes and effects. Author Richard Archer focuses on the background of the occupation of Boston by regiments of British soliders that led to the famous Boston Massacre. It is a story of economics. Straddled with huge debts from the Seven Years War with France and a home populace intolerant of increased taxes, England sought to place the financial burden onto the colonies in America, which as we all know had no representation in Parliament. The story unfolds on how Boston merchants abetted by newspapers and the rabble attempted to remedy the situation over the ensuing years and how the many missteps in policy, in factional disputes, and in later massive military presence slowly radicalized the populace. We also learn of the racism within New England, where slavery existed, and how the free Afro-Caribbean drummers of the British troops were regarded with disdain. The rich details of this scholarly book are like brush strokes in a developing painting. While the action moves slowly until the crescendo of the Massacre itself, the picture is of cautious skirmishes, fear and protest, taunts and simmering anger, blunders, and layer upon layer of political ploys. As we read, the rising tension of the populace is perceived. This is a valuable book that offers a historical microcosm. [Indeed, I recall a time when my university city was under occupation by state, regional, and local police and also by the military. I understand exactly what those Bostonian citizens felt. I saw similar fear in the eyes of isolated but armed police, one with gun drawn, when confronting a taunting crowd and I witnessed many abuses by police on innocent citizens. That situation, too, was a series of larger political and local societal errors.] Thus, the book warns us, in this age of sound bites and knee-jerk emotional appeals, to be very cautious before reaching conclusions and initiating actions. "As If an Enemy's Country" is a fine addition to the history of the American Revolution, and it leaves the reader with much to ponder.
 A very specific act March 18, 2010
wogan (Indiana&Maryland- U.S.A.)
9 out of 12 found this review helpful
Occupying armies have had much the same effect throughout history. Richard Archer describes the British occupying army that landed in Boston in 1768. He writes a detailed book with names and descriptions, the laws and acts passed and the reasons for the actions of both the politicians and the army.
There is very little of the social aspects of the time described. The point is emphasized that this was an army whose mission was to protect the interests of the British Empire, not individual citizens. Little is mentioned of the higher tax rates in England, the emphasis is on the lack of representation.
Bit by bit, detail by detail, demonstration by demonstration is explained. This book is much like a political and military report.
The broader interest for most would be the social ramifications of such a force and time in history. Instead this is a detailed account of how this occupying force; where 1 in 5 in Boston were wearing the red coats of the British army, led the citizens into the radicalization that led to the Revolution.
If you want a lighter reading or a broader history you need to look elsewhere, but if you are interested in this one specific occurrence in American history this book will give you the ultimate in clarification.
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