It’s that time of year again when we start to think about holiday gift giving. And what’s better than giving or getting a book as a present? So let’s talk about books! Since this is a magazine dedicated to Concord, let’s focus on books about that most important day of days in Concord history, April 19, 1775. 

As a professional historian, I’m very picky about the books that I read, especially ones that deal with Concord. The books that I’ve chosen for this list are two of my favorites; books that teach me something new whenever I reread them. And while both books are older, it’s easy to find them online or in a used bookstore (I highly suggest Barrow Bookstore in Concord). If you want to truly understand what happened on April 19, 1775, and have a history buff on your holiday gift list, these two books are, in my opinion, the best. 

Paul Revere’s Ride by David Hackett Fischer was published in 1994 and was required reading when I became a National Park Ranger at Minute Man National Historical Park in 1999. It starts in 1774 and recounts the months and days in Boston leading up to the Battles of Lexington and Concord. While the book is focused on Paul Revere and his now almost-mythical ride, other historical heavyweights are in the narrative as well, including Bostonians like John Hancock, Sam Adams, and Dr. Joseph Warren. 

Fischer’s book paints a very realistic picture of what it was like in Boston in the year leading up to the Revolution. And the events in Boston had a very real effect on the villages of Lexington and Concord! His account of the battles on April 19 is accurate and well interpreted and the reader will come away with a better understanding of not only the first day of the Revolutionary War, but how a silversmith named Revere became a legendary American hero (thanks to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow). 

The second book I would suggest is a classic; The Minutemen and Their World by Robert Gross. Published in 1976, it’s still the best book ever written about Concord and the events of April 19, 1775. 

The Minutemen and Their World is a social and cultural history of 18th century Concord. While we think of Concord as being a quaint New England town, in 1775 it was a bustling, noisy, farming village, and the Revolution was fermenting! Events in Boston were about to put Concord onto the world stage and on April 19th “The Shot Heard Round the World” would solidify the town’s place in history. 

Gross’ book really brings Revolutionary Concord to life, and people with the names of Emerson, Buttrick, Bliss, Hosmer, and Davis are living, breathing characters. Their hopes, fears, dreams, and anxieties are palpable as the British redcoats march out of Boston and head for a showdown with the minutemen that was all but inevitable. 

Both of these books are a must-read for any history buff, or for anyone who wants to learn more about the town of Concord. Both have stood the test of time and both are worth reading and rereading again and again.