A revolutionary take on ‘Boston Massacre’

Title notwithstanding, history professor Serena Zabin’s work isn’t really about the massacre, which happens two-thirds of the way into the book and is dispensed with quickly. Instead, it’s about the atmosphere of pre-Revolutionary War Boston and, specifically, how most people didn’t think it was a big deal to have Brits garrisoned in the city, mingling with Bostonians, until the March day when British soldiers opened fire right in front of the seat of the government.

Zabin begins in Ireland, where women waited to find out if the British army would send them with their husbands to the American colony.

On this side of the Atlantic, the book is about how quickly Brits integrated into American society, with soldier/hottie Samuel Strain, for instance, seemingly viewing life in Boston much like today’s college students view spring break in Daytona Beach.

Meanwhile, Zabin documents so many occasions when Brits and Americans visited, flirted with and even married each other that she upends the notion that the massacre happened because British soldiers and Americans, who hated each other, finally erupted. In fact, while it’s true that the massacre fueled unrest that would lead to revolution, it was not a final break. As Zabin notes, “Local women continued to wed soldiers in the weeks and years after the shooting.”

The result is a complex picture of a society where, yes, some were beginning to chafe under British rule but where others were happy to have that protection.