Content area
Full Text
American Tempest: How the Boston Tea Party Sparked a Revolution. By Harlow Giles Unger. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Da Capo Press, 2011. 288 pages. $16.00 (paperback).
In American Tempest: How the Boston Tea Party Sparked a Revolution, Harlow Giles Unger ties together disparate threads of colonial history into a comprehensive overview ofAmerican political and social unrest, using the Boston Tea Party as the prism through which he explores the road to revolution. With his stated goal to provide the "true and entire story of the original Tea Party and the Patriots who staged it," and its important social, political and economic consequences, Unger provides valuable context for scholars of eighteenth-century domestic and international affairs (4). Meticulously researched and written in a style designed to appeal to both academic and popular audiences, American Tempest contextualizes and describes the events leading to the outbreak of hostilities in an effective and thorough manner. Numerous illustrations add depth to his prose and help the reader visualize the events and people brought to life in the book.
A prolific author and accomplished historian, Unger has published twenty-five books, including ten biographies of America's founding fathers. He has experience as a journalist, broadcaster, and educator, having worked as a foreign correspondent and analyst for an overseas news service, and taught English and journalism. According to his website, Unger is a...