Charles P. Neimeyer
A significant addition. Hutchinson definitely needed a more complete treatment than he heretofore had received and Walmsley has neatly provided it. A genuine pleasure to read.
—Charles P. Neimeyer, author of America Goes to War: A Social History of the Continental Army
Allen Matusow
Given the enduring fascination of the American Revolution, this fine biography of Thomas Hutchinson should find a wide and appreciative audience. Historian Stephen Walmsely's persuasive study of the loyalist governor of Massachusetts Bay portrays an honorable but unimaginative official who remains true to his aristocratic conception of duty but helpless to arrest the forces wrenching his native land away from Crown rule. Putting a human face on an epic conflict, Walmsley finds hutchinson's radical opponents motivated less by ideas and principles than by ambition, greed, and personal animus. Indeed, Walmsley's
graphic description of the mob violence, deployed by the patriots to intimidate Hutchinson and subvert the rule of law, will leave readers pondering who were the villains and who the heroes in this superb reconsideration of the nation's origins.
—Allen Matusow, Rice University
From the Publisher
"A readable and tightly argued political and social biography that provides numerous insights into Massachusetts' history on the eve of the revolution."
-Historical Journal of Massachusetts,
"A candid and readable biography . . . [Walmsley] gives a vivid account of the descent of a controversial and sometimes misunderstood figure of the period."
-Choice,
"Usefully emphasizes the economic and personal influences on the politics of Massachusetts."
-Religious Studies Review,
"A significant addition. Hutchinson definitely needed a more complete treatment than he heretofore had received and Walmsley has neatly provided it. A genuine pleasure to read."
-Charles P. Neimeyer,author of America Goes to War: A Social History of the Continental Army
"Given the enduring fascination of the American Revolution, this fine biography of Thomas Hutchinson should find a wide and appreciative audience. Historian Stephen Walmsely's persuasive study of the loyalist governor of Massachusetts Bay portrays an honorable but unimaginative official who remains true to his aristocratic conception of duty but helpless to arrest the forces wrenching his native land away from Crown rule. Putting a human face on an epic conflict, Walmsley finds hutchinson's radical opponents motivated less by ideas and principles than by ambition, greed, and personal animus. Indeed, Walmsley's graphic description of the mob violence, deployed by the patriots to intimidate Hutchinson and subvert the rule of law, will leave readers pondering who were the villains and who the heroes in this superb reconsideration of the nation's origins."
-Allen Matusow,Rice University
