Peter's War: A New England Slave Boy and the American Revolution [Hardcover]

Joyce Lee Malcolm (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 3, 2009

A boy named Peter, born to a slave in Massachusetts in 1763, was sold nineteen months later to a childless white couple there. This book recounts the fascinating history of how the American Revolution came to Peter's small town, how he joined the revolutionary army at the age of twelve, and how he participated in the battles of Bunker Hill and Yorktown and witnessed the surrender at Saratoga.

Joyce Lee Malcolm describes Peter’s home life in rural New England, which became increasingly unhappy as he grew aware of racial differences and prejudices. She then relates how he and other blacks, slave and free, joined the war to achieve their own independence. Malcolm juxtaposes Peter’s life in the patriot armies with that of the life of Titus, a New Jersey slave who fled to the British in 1775 and reemerged as a feared guerrilla leader.

A remarkable feat of investigation, Peter’s biography illuminates many themes in American history: race relations in New England, the prelude to and military history of the Revolutionary War, and the varied experience of black soldiers who fought on both sides. (20081031)

Editorial Reviews

Review

“From the fogs of war and hidden records, Joyce Lee Malcolm has retrieved this amazing story of slavery and freedom in the midst of the American Revolution. With graceful, old-fashioned narrative style, Malcolm tells the story of Peter, an African American youth whose footprints traversed many battlefronts of the Revolution. Peter''s voice is elusive, but his life left many traces. He saw and fought the war, returned to his Massachusetts home, lived and worked as a farmer, and died far too young. This book is a marvelous example of what can be learned from heretofore unknown people, and a beautifully-told tale about the ugliest underside of American history.”—David W. Blight, author of A Slave No More: Two Men Who Escaped to Freedom, Including Their Own Narratives of Emancipation

(David W. Blight )

“In this deeply researched and generously wrought book, Joyce Lee Malcolm penetrates the past’s shadows and helps us recover the life of an American boy relegated to obscurity—until now.”—Wilfred M. McClay, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
 

(Wilfred M. McClay )

"A well-written and important contribution to our understanding of the black experience during the Revolution."—Edward Rugemer, Yale University

(Edward Rugemer )

"In clear, engaging language, Malcolm reconstructs the surroundings, relationships and political atmosphere of the Revolution. . . . Malcolm seamlessly captures the intersection of personal, political and military strategy. History buffs will revel in Peter''s never-before-told story, which makes a vivid addition to Revolutionary War literature."—Kirkus Reviews

(Kirkus Reviews )

About the Author

Joyce Lee Malcolm is professor of law at George Mason University School of Law. She lives in Alexandria, VA.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press; First Edition edition (February 3, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300119305
• ISBN-13: 978-0300119305
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #696,179 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Peter: Missing in History, January 26, 2009

By 

Concord - See all my reviews

This review is from: Peter's War: A New England Slave Boy and the American Revolution (Hardcover)

This book asserts that it will relate the story of Peter, a young man enslaved along the battle road between Lexington and Concord on that April day in 1775 when the British army marched by. Peter then served in the militia and Continental armies. This should be fascinating stuff, and indeed, parts of the book are very good.

But I would say that the book is marred by two problems. Most important, the book has no footnotes (odd--you would think Yale University Press could do better than that). Why doesn't it have them? Readability? Fear of scaring off general readers? Laziness? I suspect it is not any of these factors, but rather that the author makes a great many statements for which she cannot have any factual evidence for support. Peter, unfortunately, left no written records, and neither really did anyone he was intimate with. Even finding records from other soldiers in his units seems to have been impossible. So we are left with guess work.

Sometimes those guesses sound reasonable. At other times, they don't, at least to me. Worse, is when they make no sense, as when the author asserts that Peter would have hated Sundays--this when the author wants to write about racial segregation at Church--but on the next page writes that Sunday was the only day he could see his mother. The author really hasn't found enough here about Peter to justify a book by this title.

So what we have is the second problem--a misleading title. The book is more often simply a history of the general African American experience in the Revolutionary period. This is important stuff, and the book would be a fine introduction to that topic--especially if the reader takes the guess work with a large grain of salt--for those who don't mind reading about the basics of the battles of Lexington and Concord, and the war in New Jersey, and Yorktown. For me, I skimmed large parts, looking for the next scant mention of Peter and his family.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Slavery in Massachusetts, March 26, 2009

By 

BevD (Arlington, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Peter's War: A New England Slave Boy and the American Revolution (Hardcover)

To be fair this book is first and foremost about the American Revolutionary War. I bought it because I thought I'd learn more about slaves in Massachusetts. If you want to read about the Revolutionary War and its effects on the people who lived in Lincoln and Lexington MA this is an interesting read. If what you really want is to read about slaves in Massachusetts you will get some information but not much. While the author discovered a few personal facts about Peter she found no written journals or diaries. Thus throughout the book she assumes Peter felt this or that; she doesn't really know. It is frustrating because you have no way to know what is fact and what she is conjecturing. If she wanted to tell Peter's story it would have been better, I think, to use the facts she did find and build out his life story, but label it historical fiction. Also, I was dismayed to find there were no chapter notes to give the reader information about where her information came from. She only included a general list of books she consulted. I bought this book hoping it would give me some insight into how I can learn more about the slaves in my home town. I was disappointed.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Charming and educational account of the war for freedom, February 8, 2009

By 

spyglass "eagle" (usa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Peter's War: A New England Slave Boy and the American Revolution (Hardcover)

I realy enjoyed reading Peter's War. It gave a thoughtful and comprehensive view of the Black American experience during the Revolutionary War and the contribution made by African Americans. In addition it is an excellent and entertaing history of key battles of the Revoulution. I learned how people lived at the time and the sacrifices that ordinary people made in order for the revolution to succeed.

The Author has meticulously researched the material to give us a charming and accurate insight into racial relations at the time. I read the Book in two days and could not put it down.