Synopses & Reviews
He was a rich, powerful aristocrat, a merchant king who loved English culture and fashion, and, above all, he was a loyal British subject with ambitions of a lordship and a grand retirement estate in England. There simply was no doubt about it: John Hancock was the least likely man in Boston to start a rebellion. How, then, did this Tory patrician become one of the staunchest supporters of the American Revolution?
John Hancock?s overnight transformation from British loyalist to fiery rebel and first governor of the independent state of Massachusetts is one of the least known but most gripping stories of the American Revolution. Now, acclaimed author Harlow Giles Unger introduces us to the founding father whose name is as recognizable as George Washington?s, but whose thrilling life story is all but untold.
Applying his historical expertise and storytelling gift, Unger details the fascinating life of one of our most extraordinary business and political leaders?the first signer of the Declaration of Independence. As Unger reveals in this unflinching portrait, Hancock was one of the most paradoxical figures of his time. Arguably the wealthiest man in the American colonies, he unabashedly reveled in his riches, adoring all the foppish trappings he could buy. But his commitment to individual liberty eventually transformed him into a fervent revolutionary, venerated equally by his establishment peers at Harvard as he was by the rebels?the Minutemen who did the fighting and the Boston street mobs who declared him their hero even as they burned the homes of other aristocrats. To repay their respect, he sacrificed his fortune and risked death by hanging to win independence from the British. A brilliant orator, he combined his wealth and political skills to unite Boston?s merchant and working classes into an armed might that forced Britain?s vaunted professional army to evacuate Boston, assuring the success of the Revolution.
America?s first great philanthropist and humanitarian, Hancock rebuilt whole neighborhoods devastated by Boston?s periodic fires, fed the poor, sent orphans to college, and bought the city its first fire engine. He rebuilt the city and the magnificent Boston Common after the vicious British devastation, and the people of Massachusetts elected and reelected him their governor for the rest of his life?nine terms in all. Here is the fascinating story of the man with the most recognizable signature in American history. Intertwining Hancock?s story with that of the colorful Samuel Adams, his fellow Bostonian (and Harvard man) who was both comrade in arms and political enemy, Unger etches a finely drawn portrait of one of the Revolutionary War?s greatest?and possibly least known?leaders.
Review
* In a biography awash in early American history, Unger celebrates the career of John
Hancock, whose life was as large as his legendary signature. A successful merchant and
accomplished politician, Hancock became the first signatory of the Declaration of Independence by virtue of his election as president of the Continental Congress. And when he served as a delegate to the Federal Convention of 1787, it was his suggestion to entertain amendments to the proposed Constitution that later became the basis for the Bill of Rights. Hancock lived at the center of late 18th-century Boston politics and commerce, and his life is an engaging prism through which to view Revolutionary New England. Unger, a journalist and a biographer of Noah Webster, effectively uses letters, newspaper articles and first-hand accounts by Hancock and other preeminent Americans to make immediate the events and controversies--the Stamp Act, the Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party--that culminated in the Revolutionary War. He adds a human and remarkably contemporary impression of the rough-and-tumble nature of revolutionary politics through his descriptions of the innuendo and outright attacks directed at Hancock by fellow Bostonian Samuel Adams (though to better
understand Adams's enmity, more discussion of the nuances of the men's respective political views would have been useful). Unger devotes substantial energy to Hancock's private life and habits (Hancock's fondness for almost regal accoutrements was controversial), but his marriage to Dorothy Quincy, as handled by Unger, remains frustratingly enigmatic.
Unger's writing is generally straightforward, rich and satisfying biography that should see only modest success, though it could get a boost from two other fall titles on Revolutionary leaders: H.W. Brands's big bio of Benjamin Franklin and Joseph Ellis's Founding Brothers.
--Publishers Weekly, September 25, 2000
Review
In a biography awash in early American history, Unger celebrates the career of John
Hancock, whose life was as large as his legendary signature. A successful merchant and
accomplished politician, Hancock became the first signatory of the Declaration of Independence by virtue of his election as president of the Continental Congress. And when he served as a delegate to the Federal Convention of 1787, it was his suggestion to entertain amendments to the proposed Constitution that later became the basis for the Bill of Rights. Hancock lived at the center of late 18th-century Boston politics and commerce, and his life is an engaging prism through which to view Revolutionary New England. Unger, a journalist and a biographer of Noah Webster, effectively uses letters, newspaper articles and first-hand accounts by Hancock and other preeminent Americans to make immediate the events and controversies--the Stamp Act, the Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party--that culminated in the Revolutionary War. He adds a human and remarkably contemporary impression of the rough-and-tumble nature of revolutionary politics through his descriptions of the innuendo and outright attacks directed at Hancock by fellow Bostonian Samuel Adams (though to better
understand Adams's enmity, more discussion of the nuances of the men's respective political views would have been useful). Unger devotes substantial energy to Hancock's private life and habits (Hancock's fondness for almost regal accoutrements was controversial), but his marriage to Dorothy Quincy, as handled by Unger, remains frustratingly enigmatic.
Unger's writing is generally straightforward, rich and satisfying biography that should see only modest success, though it could get a boost from two other fall titles on Revolutionary leaders: H.W. Brands's big bio of Benjamin Franklin and Joseph Ellis's Founding Brothers.
--Publishers Weekly, September 25, 2000
Synopsis
This biography of John Hancock, the first signer of the Declaration of Independence and first president of the Continental Congress, details the life of the patriot whose famous signature has obscured his importance as one of America's most extraordinary business and political leaders.
Synopsis
PRAISE FOR HARLOW Giles UNGER'S NOAH WEBSTER: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF AN AMERICAN PATRIOT
""Noah Webster was a truly remarkable man; shrewd, passionate, learned and energetic, God-fearing and patriotic. Mr. Unger has done a fine job reintroducing him to a new generation of Americans.""-Washington Times
""Superb biography. . . . Don't miss this stirring book."" -Florence King, The American Spectator
Synopsis
PRAISE FOR HARLOW Giles UNGER'S NOAH WEBSTER: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF AN AMERICAN PATRIOT
"Noah Webster was a truly remarkable man; shrewd, passionate, learned and energetic, God-fearing and patriotic. Mr. Unger has done a fine job reintroducing him to a new generation of Americans."-Washington Times
"Superb biography. . . . Don't miss this stirring book." -Florence King, The American Spectator
About the Author
Harlow Giles Unger is author of Noah Webster: The Life and Times of an American Patriot. A veteran journalist, he was a news editor at the New York Herald Tribune Overseas News Service, and foreign news correspondent for the Times (London). He lives in New York City and Paris.
Table of Contents
The Boy on Beacon Hill (1737-1750).
The Merchant King (1724-1750).
The Merchant Prince (1750-1764).
Of Stamps and Taxes (1764-1765).
"Mad Rant and Porterly Reviling" (1765).
A Hero by Circumstance (1765-1768).
"Idol of the Mob" (1768-1770).
"Tea in a Trice" (1770-1773).
High Treason (1774-1775).
President of Congress (1775-1776).
Founding Father (1776).
President of the United States (1776-1777).
A Model Major General (1777-1780).
His Excellency the Governor (1780-1785).
Hancock! Hancock! Even to the End (1785-1793).
Epilogue.
Notes.
Selected Bibliography of Principal Sources.
Index.