The Minutemen and Their World (American Century Series) (Paperback)

~ (Author, Epilogue), Alan M. Taylor (Foreword) "CONCORD arrive at its strategic position in 1775 only after a good deal of foot-dragging..." (more)
Key Phrases: aggrieved brethren, former selectman, valuation list, General Court, William Emerson, New England (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A pleasure to read-so much so that one may easily miss the monumental research upon which it rests." -- David Hackett Fisher, Brandeis University

"In this eloquent book, Robert Gross gives us a Concord that we have not encountered before, a surprising place that turns out to be not the quaint community of myth and legend, but a lively society, deeply engaged in the great issues of its revolutionary time--with all the tensions, anxieties, and aspirations that human being share."--Linda K. Kerber

"The Minutemen and Their World makes the American Revolution live--a vivid, compelling book that dramatizes the political consciousness and armed conflict in the very birthplace of the Revolutionary War. Few books have so brilliantly stood the test of time."--Jon Butler

"For historians, The Minutemen and Their World was a shot heard round the world. It taught us that fine history combines good scholarlship with good writing. Its reverberations are still being heard."--Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

"The Minutemen and Their World is a classic in--well, the classic sense of the world: a book of such enduring elegance and interest that it will find a readership in every generation."--Joyce Appleby

"A richly detailed picture of social life and social divisions in Concord, and a lively narrative of the coming of the Revolution there."--Edmund S. Morgan, The New York Review of Books

"This lovely little book captures, intimately and authentically, the life of an eighteenth century New England town . . . gloriously good."--Michael Zuckerman, University of Pennsylvania
-- Review

"This lovely little book captures, intimately and authentically, the life of an eighteenth century New England town . . ." -- Michael Zuckerman, University of Pennsylvania

Review

"In this eloquent book, Robert Gross gives us a Concord that we have not encountered before, a surprising place that turns out to be not the quaint community of myth and legend, but a lively society, deeply engaged in the great issues of its revolutionary time--with all the tensions, anxieties, and aspirations that human being share."--Linda K. Kerber

"The Minutemen and Their World makes the American Revolution live--a vivid, compelling book that dramatizes the political consciousness and armed conflict in the very birthplace of the Revolutionary War. Few books have so brilliantly stood the test of time."--Jon Butler

"For historians, The Minutemen and Their World was a shot heard round the world. It taught us that fine history combines good scholarlship with good writing. Its reverberations are still being heard."--Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

"The Minutemen and Their World is a classic in--well, the classic sense of the world: a book of such enduring elegance and interest that it will find a readership in every generation."--Joyce Appleby

"A richly detailed picture of social life and social divisions in Concord, and a lively narrative of the coming of the Revolution there."--Edmund S. Morgan, The New York Review of Books

"This lovely little book captures, intimately and authentically, the life of an eighteenth century New England town . . . gloriously good."--Michael Zuckerman, University of Pennsylvania

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 242 pages
• Publisher: Hill and Wang; 25th anniversary edition (April 30, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0809001209
• ISBN-13: 978-0809001200
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #232,579 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #78 in

  Books > History > United States > State & Local > Northeast

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Book Review, May 15, 2005

By	Todd Soren (Austin, TX USA) - See all my reviews

The following is my book review for a history class. It is far from perfect but perhaps can help you start your own critical analysis.

The book tells an unconventional story of the American Revolution by analyzing the ordinary city of Concord, Massachusetts as a microcosm of colonial America. Gross argues that the struggle for independence from Britain was not a revolution but a conservative social struggle - a struggle with patriarchal control, religious zealotry, individualism, and localized control of government.

The first point of contention in Concord was unequal representation attributed to citizen's proximity to the town meeting hall - those who were physically closer dominated public opinion and policy. The town would also struggle with church and state - ministers were subsidized by the town and it was not possible to keep each citizen happy with the majority's choice. Local representation was another source of disagreement - the mid-eighteenth century government was influenced by (if not controlled from) England, an ocean away. Representation was worsened when the British levied heavy taxes to finance the Seven Years War. The popular majority fought against the colonial government who favored the hand that empowered them, if not fed them. Primary documents note the latter: "there is no greater...corruption...than when...executive officers depend...on a power independent of the people".

In the afterword, Gross explains his left-leaning ideological influences and how they shaped the topic of his research, his approach, and conclusions. Gross uses historical public records to tell a story, attributing emotion and motivation to statistical trends. Personalizing quantitative data will naturally have a bias, but Gross manages to keep from overwhelming the reader with his own conclusions by letting the reader draw his own. Academics have used Gross's work to compare Vietnam to the American Revolution - Gross acknowledges the idea but leaves it out of the main text.

The most compelling argument Gross makes demonstrates the loss of patriarchal control in Concord, and presumably across the colonies. He describes how sons rely on fathers for land, and daughters rely on fathers for dowries. As the economic climate changes, dowries are reduced, local fertile land becomes scarce and grown children have incentives to leave the family to pursue the frontier. This costs the father his source of labor (as slavery was not the dominant labor in Massachusetts) and costs the children the source of inheritance and stability.
Gross approaches each argument in a similar manner - he tells a personal story backed by quantitative research. In the patriarchy argument he tells of the emigration of Purchase Brown, unable to sustain himself on his father's meager farm. Quantitatively, Gross notes that 1 in every 4 taxpayers moved away from Concord in every decade from the 1740s onward.

The Minutemen and Their World was revolutionary in personalizing a Revolution. The author stretched historical records and statistics into a compelling narrative of people both average and great. The arguments are solid because of the heavy quantitative research, but even the author wonders "if the Minutemen would recognize themselves in my mirror". The author added to the understanding of the Revolution by adding intricate personal detail and motivations to all of Concord's citizens - memorable men, but also poor men, widows, spinsters, ministers, blacks, farmers, blacksmiths, intellectuals, substitutes, and dissenters.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Village history at it's best, August 27, 2000

By	John Elsegood (Merredin, Western Australia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Robert Gross has produced a work that is a pleasure to read in examining the town of Concord, through the lives of ordinary townspeople, before and after that memorable day of the 19 April 1775.This indeed is 'bottom-up' history but Gross ensures the interest never wanes through his sensitive and vibrant narrative.There were only some 1500 persons(about 265 families) in this very special town that witnessed the first battle of the American Revolution(although the first shots were fired in neighbouring Lexington, that was hardly a battle).Gross produces some interesting social 'gems' such as magistrates being regarded as 'fathers' to the people. Modern western society has long since ceased to have such faith in the judiciary-in fact they are often regarded as the enemy within! Church politics also had a larger significance in the life of 18th century Concordians than today.The aftermath of the Great Awakening (the huge spiritual revivals that swept the American colonies between the late 1730s and early 1740s) is also covered well by Gross in discussing the stuggles between the Old and New Lights. The battles of Dr Joseph Lee, for church membership, are particularly interesting. Gross also highlights the strains of war and the decrease in military enlistments from Concord as the war progresses. As a study of a community in an important era of America's history this social history is highly recommended.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a pleasure to read? absolutely, December 8, 2002

By	Yalensian - See all my reviews

I agree wholeheartedly with editorial reviewer David Hackett Fisher. This book reads almost like a novel, and yet it is a work of history--with solid research and scholarship, at that.

Gross argues that the Revolution provided Concord an opportunity to re-assert control over the community and its destiny. In the years preceding 1775-1776, great changes were sweeping across the colonies, particularly in traditional New England towns like Concord. For example, there was the problem of decreasing supplies of land, and fathers, with sometimes large numbers of sons, had difficulty providing for all his heirs (without dividing the land and, hence, making it less sustainable). Other issues were occurring specifically in Concord--such as the desire of its residents farther from the town to hire their own minister. So threatened, Concord was experiencing not just stasis but actual decline in these pre-Revolution years.

Therefore, with all these fluctuations and challenges, participation in the Revolution offered Concord a chance to seize initiative and regain control over its political and communal life, to restore its autonomy. Gross writes, "The men of 1775 had not gone to war to promote change but to stop it."