The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams

Admired by friends and loathed by the British colonial establishment, Samuel Adams, cousin to John Adams, is largely forgotten today. Pulitzer Prize–winning biographer Schiff (The Witches: Salem, 1692) brings Adams back to the forefront of the American Revolution in this audiobook narrated with precision and perfect pacing by Jason Culp. It describes how the idealistic Samuel Adams was determined to correct the injustice of British citizens in North America being denied the rights that British citizens had in Britain. He skillfully shaped public opinion, first in Massachusetts, then in the other colonies. He understood how to use the press and a well-honed argument. Adams was also a master organizer, founding the Sons of Liberty and the Committees of Correspondence, which allowed local grievances to gain traction throughout the colonies. Additionally, he masterminded large-scale acts of civil disobedience. It was Adams who stealthily organized men to throw chests of East India Company tea into Boston Harbor. Schiff makes the case that Adams didn’t just pave the road to the American Revolution—he made it happen.