THE RIDE

A brisk trot through Paul Revere’s famous ride and the many traces of history surrounding it.

That April night in 1775 wasn’t Paul Revere’s first ride nor his last. But, observes Kennedy, shifting from his sportswriting beat to history, it was central to both Revere’s legend and the American Revolution: If the British had successfully marched, surprised their foe, fulfilled their aim of seizing the Massachusetts rebels’ store of gunpowder and ammunition, and seized Samuel Adams and other leaders, the colonies might still be British today. It’s emblematic of the tightness of the colonial world that British commander Thomas Gage and Continental commander George Washington fought the French together—and that Revere was right there beside them. (Daniel Boone was on hand, too.) It’s also the case that the Revolution was really a civil war. Kennedy ably illuminates the background while also carefully examining Revere’s legend against documented reality: the fact, for instance, that 40-odd riders spread the word alongside Revere, figuring not a bit in the received wisdom but there all the same. Still, Kennedy adds, “It was Revere, booted and spurred, who raised the resistance, who helped to deliver the first, fateful stand.” Revere, as Kennedy shows, was a man of parts: an engraver whose views of the Boston Massacre were instrumental in raising that resistance, a horseman, an entrepreneur, a metalsmith, even a dentist who could hold his own against the colonial elite “while never having to suffer the indignity of being so privileged himself.” Kennedy’s side notes are fascinating, including the conjecture that the person who revealed the planned British march on Lexington and Concord in the first place was none other than Gage’s wife. The set pieces—including Revere’s arrest by British officers—are suitably dramatic as well, and the book makes for engaging reading overall.

A skillful separation of truth, legend, and what lies between in a canonical American story.