Borstal Boy or Samuel Adams

Borstal Boy

Author: Brendan Behan

Brendan Behan was an Irish playwright and novelist, as well as a youthful revolutionary. In 1939, at age 16, he was arrested in Liverpool with a suitcase full of high explosives.

BORSTAL BOY is the autobiographical record of Behan's experiences from that day through his imprisonment, trial, remand to reform school and final release. Schools for delinquents in England are called Borstal Institutions, and Behan's account of his years as a "Borstal Boy" is told in vigorous, dramatic prose.

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Samuel Adams: Father of the American Revolution

Author: Mark Puls

Winner of the 2007 Fraunces Tavern Museum Book Award!

Publishers Weekly

The argument of this brisk biography is summed up by the subtitle: Sam Adams (1722-1803)-whom most Americans know principally as that jolly guy on the beer bottles-was a major architect of American independence. Indeed, he was the only founding father to argue for independence from England before shots were fired at Lexington. A native Bostonian and brilliant political strategist, Adams led the protests in the 1760s over the Sugar and Stamp Acts, as well as the 1773 Boston Tea Party. After war broke out, he slowly nudged other leaders toward a decisive commitment to independence; Puls quotes Thomas Jefferson's description of Adams as "the fountain of our more important measures." Puls follows Adams's distinguished post-Revolutionary career: he weighed in on the Constitution and served as governor of Massachusetts. But, argues Puls (co-author of Uncommon Valor: A Story of Race, Patriotism, and Glory in the Final Battles of the Civil War), Adams was mainly interested in local politics, and sought neither fame nor leadership in the early republic. This account lacks some of the everyday details that enliven biographies-in large part, no doubt, because Adams destroyed much of his correspondence. Still, early American history buffs will enjoy Puls's fine study. Illus. 50,000 first printing. (Oct.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

A brief, sharply focused biography of the mastermind behind the American colonies' break with England, and the drive for independence. Now that McCullough's John Adams (2001) and Chernow's Alexander Hamilton (2004) have removed those luminaries' names from the list of America's most underrated Founders, how about Samuel Adams? Former Detroit News reporter Puls acknowledges that Adams's work was hampered by his destruction of correspondence and privateFully restores Adams to his rightful place as an indispensable provocateur of American liberty. First printing of 50,000