John Galvin guides the reader through Boston politics in the fifteen years preceding the Revolution, 1760-1775. Mr. Galvin focuses on the three men he contends were the most influential in the events in Boston in the pre-revolutionary years (Thomas Hutchinson, James Otis, and Samuel Adams).Very readable and a good source of behind-the-scenes activity that led to the beginning of the American Revolution.

Author John R. Galvin explores the personalities of three key figures whose actions and discourses constituted the roots of the American Revolution. Galvin's admirable scholarly discipline and his keen analysis deserve praise. His scope is very precise: it begins and ends with the period where Hutchinson, Adams, and Otis were interacting. Readers interested in Hutchinson, Adams, or Otis should read this book to gain a deeper insight into their personal philosophies and into the political struggles and challenges which made or defeated them, and which ultimately constituted the unyielding backdrop of their social existence and historical judgement. Readers interested in mid-18th century Massachussetts or American politics will learn much about the many groups and organizations of the period.

If you are in the process of meeting the love of your life, or if you have already met somebody, this is an excellent book to help you make the right choice or to find out if the man you are dating is the one and how to keep him.

I am on a friends computor. I really enjoyed the book I am single and live in Southern Australia , I appreciate books that teach how best we can live for our Lord Jesus Christ...... Don Birch
PS AS I said before please note this is a friends e-mail address

I found this book to be both practical and grounded in Biblical truth. The fact of the matter is that the Bible does not advocate a specific method of spouse-hunting (there is not a single example of courtship anywhere in Scripture, it didn't even occur until the 1400's. The rule of Biblical times was arranged marriage, which obviously doesn't apply very easily to modern times). Before you kiss dating goodbye, I suggest reading this book (and The Bible, of course, as the ultimate authority).

Journals are my favorite historical reading. I was amazed at TKW's World - and his view of the final antebellum years in New Orleans.

The read is interesting for what it includes and what it excludes. TKW knew and met every major citizen of the time; from Polk to Beauregard to Dr. Barton. You get a very detailed picture of what it was like for a man of the times; his everyday travels and travails. What it excludes is equally interesting - very little on the women he lived with, slavery, Mardi Gras and occupation.

The accent is definitely architecture and I found myself scanning - rather than reading - page after page of discussions on bricks and beams. Also, novice that I am, I found two errors (in the footnotes).

Still when I reached the end, it was a shock to the system. It felt as though TKW could not deal with occupation - of New Orleans and of his beloved Custom House - and just decided to die. It left me wanting more.

A very luxurious book, richly printed with tons of illustrations.

Favorite passage: "Some are Americans, but the French predominate, and the difference between them appears to be that the former have a little to say about everything, the latter a great deal to say about nothing at all."

I didn't like the book because it was sort of dumb. The author spent too much time talking about Sam not riding a horse. I wanted to learn more about the war and soldiers of the town of Boston. I wondered if Sam Adams was a part of the war.

my teacher is really absesed with Jean Fritz so she reads her books to us and this was one of them. this book is really not as bad as you may think it can be funny in some was and it is jambed with little interasting facts that JF found so it sort`ve interasting and you can learn from it. i think anybody should try even if they think it looks stupid because some books turn out to be very interasting.

Many years ago I did a report on Samuel Adams for school. This book by Jean Fritz helped me get a high grade. It did not give me the impression that people who are smarter should be excused from being a soldier or any other ideas. In fact I enjoyed it so much that to this day I love learning about the American Revolution, because Jean Fritz made learning fun for me. I suggest that everyone read it.

I reviewed this book for the JOURNAL OF AMERICAN HISTORY when it first appeared, and nothing that has happened in the seven years since 1992 has changed my mind. Chief Justice Rehnquist writes clearly and well, but his research and historical perspective are sadly outdated. For example, he accepts the hoary myth that there was no good reason at all to consider Andrew Johnson an appropriate target for impeachment, despite Michael Les Benedict, THE IMPEACHMENT AND TRIAL OF ANDREW JOHNSON (New York: W. W. Norton, 1973), a fine study showing that Johnson deliberately violated many Congressional civil-rights and Reconstruction statutes validly enacted over his veto, that he also sought to gut efforts to enforce the Fourteenth Amendment, and that ultimately he deliberately provoked the 1868 attempt to remove him from office. Moreover, Rehnquist's analysis of the impeachment and trial of Justice Samuel Chase fails to situate it in the context of the previous year's impeachment, conviction, and removal of U.S. District Judge John Pickering, or the larger battle between Jeffersonian Republicans and Federalists over the control of the nation's judiciary -- a context without which the Chase impeachment is all but impossible to understand. Readers seeking light on this subject should consult Richard E. Ellis, THE JEFFERSONIAN CRISIS: COURTS AND POLITICS IN THE YOUNG REPUBLIC (New York: Oxford University Press, 1971; Norton paperback, 1973).

Chief Justice Rehnquist's book extols executive and judicial independence -- unexceptional and unexceptionable positions, to be sure -- but he also implicitly denounces the actions of democratically-elected legislatures -- a position more open to question, even as it is consistent with much of his constitutional jurisprudence as shown in Sue Davis, JUSTICE REHNQUIST AND THE CONSTITUTION (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1988).

Ultimately, perhaps, readers may value this book for its potential illumination of the presiding officer over the Senate's trial of President Clinton, but it adds little or nothing to our understanding of the history and law of the impeachment process. -- Richard B. Bernstein, Adjunct Professor of Law, New York Law School

If you're looking for clues as to how Rehnquist will preside over the impeachment trial of Bill Clinton you'll be disappointed. In fact this book is more like a simple retelling of events than a focus on constitutional issues. Rehnquist does make the point that the acquittal of Justice Chase helped foster a judiciary independent of political litmus tests by Congress, and the acquittal of President Johnson did likewise for the executive branch, both of which Rehnquist feels are good things, but other than that you'll be hard pressed to find anything about the author's personal opinions. The narrative of the book is far too much concerned with broad historical developments which are discussed in much better detail in other sources, rather than focussing on the particulars of the impeachment trials. The material on the trials themselves probably takes up no more than a quarter of the book.

It's obvious to the reader that Chief Justice Rehnquist has a good command of the subject he is discussing, which are the political and the historical implications of two very important impeachment decisions in the U.S. My only criticism was really that the book delves into a lot of history and one begins to wonder why, but then the relavence to the impeachments is made clearer as the reader progresses through the book. History enthusiasts may find it somewhat redundant in that respect, but the conclusions are well drawn and the American political system is shown for what it has always been- alive with partisanship and designed, through the constitution, to put at least a small roadblock to allowing one branch of government or party from completely dominating.

This book will be very helpful for many, since much of it focuses more on spirituality and 'discipleship in the grind' (prayer, forgiveness, simplicity) than on theological issues (i.e., the "Calvinism" vs. "Arminianism" debate). There are, to be sure, theological assumptions made by the authors, but they tend to take a backseat, because the aim of the book is to facilitate discussion between you and your dating partner to provide opportunity for understanding and growth. I am a high-church Anglican, and my girlfriend is a Baptist - you can't be much farther apart on the spectrum! But this book provides fairly common ground for a couple to engage each other, despite potential differences.

The book dives head-first into some issues (within the parameters of its scope), while it merely visits the outskirts of others, such as grace, which I think could have been given a more full-orbed treatment. For instance, the original Greek word for Grace, 'charis', meant, among other things, "the desirability of the beautiful". The implications of this are delightfully helpful for our discipleship and our understanding of God, but are neither mentioned nor explored. There are a few other areas where I could raise this same complaint, but I might be asking the authors to chart out more spiritual territory for the reader than they felt needed to be covered.

I would tend to agree strongly with the reviewer below that this book can be somewhat simplistic at times. The simplicity of the book is, conversely, one of it's advantages, because if you haven't had the advantage of picking up technical terms or language specific to the history of the Christian Faith you'll be more comfortable here. In addition to this, short attention spans and busy schedules are accomodated by the length of the devotionals. Just a two to three page reading each day, with five to ten questions at the end of the week fostering discussion about the readings and relating them to your life. The questions aren't aimed at having the couple regurgitate doctrines, but tease out the inner and outer spiritual life of each person in the couple as an organic thing.

Depending on your circumstances, you might want to give this a spin, even if you're not a young Christian. The first and second chapters I didn't get anything out of, so a moderately well-read individual may need to wait a bit to come across a practical, simple insight which they hadn't considered. My girlfriend and I have found the format of this book helpful (particularly the questions for discussion at the end of each week), in particular because she's not used to either maintaining a steady devotional life (especially not the kind of devotional habits we Anglican Christians have, such as common prayer and contemplation) or being engaged with theological themes. I would expect others to find this book useful, as well, but couples who are more widely read, who openly communicate with each other about their theological/spiritual reading, and who have a common devotional life may want to look elsewhere.

I like this book and recommend it as a starting place. My boyfreind and I are both strong adult christians with a view towards marriag and family. We attend church and consider God a foundation to us. However we were both a little shy about starting out to pray together, or read the bible together and so on. This book is a nice start. It is not overly heavy; each reading is short. It is not deep into theology nor does it preach. It is a nice easy starting point for us. Also I come from a more full-faith background while he is more consertive; this book has walked a nice middle ground.

My wife-to-be and I could not wait to consume the incredible insight from this devotional book. We especially loved the blend of deep spiritual thought with the "bottom shelf" practical application. This book is a must read for all dating couples, who are serious about finding THE ONE. Two enthusiastic thumbs up!

Samuel Adams: Radical Puritan recounts the major events in it's subject's life, but doesn't leave you with a feeling about the essence of the man. Sam Adams does not speak for himself enough via quotes from his own writings. The coverage of the Sons of Liberty is reduced to 13 superficial pages. It does provide a glimpse of an old revolutionary not changing with the times after the war has been won. But it is not the full color portrait of a life like that Van Doren has provided for Benjamin Franklin.

Here it goes!You are about to read and comprehend a facinating book.That is the book of the world that Samuel Adams had and belive me this book is so great that I have already read it 30 times.I love it so much that when my friends have a BIG essay and help them study about Samuel Adams and they read it and this is their exppressions,"Wow! Girl friend,Why you didn't tell me of this incredible book. All of my entire family have read this incredible novel.this same expression came on their face. Radical Puritan by Lillan M.Fowler, William M. JR. Fowler, Oscar Handlin,is a novel of Samuel Adam's life.This novel tell from how he became an original born baby to a very onorable man. Samuel Adam was born in Boston,Massachusetts on September 27,1722. He was a leader of the fight against British colonial rule,and a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Adams was a cousin o John Adams who became President of the Unted States.

Samuel Adams graduated from Harvard College with a Master of Arts degree in 1743.After college he entered private business,and throght out this period was an outspoken

The truth is, my friends, that I not read this book. Why then, you may ask, am I reviewing it? I am protesting to outrageous price for the book. Why should some paper cost this much. It is sinful how much this book costs. I would not pay more than 20 bucks for this book. Thank you, and I hope the proprietors of this book reconsider the price.