John Adams Under Fire: The Founding Father's Fight for Justice in the Boston Massacre Murder Trial

by Dan Abrams, David Fisher

Overview

Look for Dan Abrams and David Fisher’s new book, Kennedy’s Avenger: Assassination, Conspiracy, and the Forgotten Trial of Jack Ruby.

*NOW A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER*

“An expert, extremely detailed account of John Adams’ finest hour.”—Kirkus Reviews

Honoring the 250th Anniversary of the Boston Massacre

The New York Times bestselling author of Lincoln’s Last Trial and host of LivePD Dan Abrams and David Fisher tell the story of a trial that would change history.

An eye-opening story of America on the edge of revolution.

History remembers John Adams as a Founding Father and our country’s second president. But in the tense years before the American Revolution, he was still just a lawyer, fighting for justice in one of the most explosive murder trials of the era—the Boston Massacre, where five civilians died from shots fired by British soldiers.

Drawing on Adams’s own words from the trial transcript, Dan Abrams and David Fisher transport readers to colonial Boston, a city roiling with rebellion, where British military forces and American colonists lived side by side, waiting for the spark that would start a war.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781335996190
Publisher:	Hanover Square Press
Publication date:	03/02/2021
Edition description:	First Time Trade
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	444,862
Product dimensions:	5.31(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.81(d)

About the Author

Dan Abrams is the chief legal affairs anchor for ABC News and CEO and founder of Abrams Media. He is also the host of top-rated Live PD on A&E Network and The Dan Abrams Show: Where Politics Meets the Law on SiriusXM. A graduate of Columbia University Law School, he is the author of the Washington Post bestseller Man Down and has written for the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and Yale Law & Policy Review, among many others. He lives in New York.

David Fisher is the author of more than twenty New York Times bestsellers. He lives in New York with his wife, Laura.

Editorial Reviews

An expert, extremely detailed account of John Adams' finest hour.”
– Kirkus Reviews


“This engrossing account of 18th century legal procedure and the colorful individuals involved in the colonies’ most celebrated trial delivers another boost to John Adams’s rising reputation.” -HistoryNet

"Abrams and Fisher mine details about court proceedings from the era as well as incidents enflaming the raucous, rebellious mood in Boston." -Valdosta Daily Times

“Those interested in trial case or the Revolutionary War time period will enjoy this look into history and at a trial that hasn’t been covered much before.” -Parkersburg News & Sentinel


"The authors do a remarkable job of spinning the court transcripts into a fascinating tale of intrigue and underscoring the men and the issues at play." -Fredericksburg Book Review

“A marvelous narrative. … John Adams Under Fire fills an important void in the life of Massachusetts’ most beloved patriot.” —Virginia Gazette

From the Publisher

2020-01-05
The first shots in the American Revolution occurred during the Boston Massacre, and this history describes the trial that followed, certainly "the most important case in American colonial history."

On March 5, 1770, British soldiers, harassed by a mob throwing snowballs and rocks, fired into the crowd, killing five and injuring six. Abrams, the chief legal affairs correspondent for ABC News, and prolific author Fisher (co-authors: Lincoln's Last Trial: The Murder Case That Propelled Him to the Presidency, 2018) write that the 34-year-old Adams, a successful lawyer who was sympathetic to the protestors, agreed to defend the officer and eight soldiers accused of murder. He would later write, "Counsel ought to be the very last thing an accused person should want in a free country…." This was a moderately courageous act that did his growing law practice no good. To his dying day, Adams grumbled that opponents used the trial to impugn his patriotism. This may have been true, but since then, historians have given him high marks. There were two trials. In the first, the defense had little trouble convincing the jury that Thomas Preston, the officer in charge, did not order his men to fire. In the second, Adams and colleagues strived to show that the soldiers feared for their lives, thus giving them the right to kill in self-defense. They largely succeeded. The jury exonerated six and convicted two of the lesser charge of manslaughter. The letter "m" was burned onto their thumbs as punishment. A transcript exists of the soldiers' trial, which is perhaps too much of a good thing, as the authors quote liberally from it. Despite variations, readers will encounter perhaps 100 pages of witnesses' descriptions of the same event followed by several lawyers' careful reviews of those that support the case. Many readers will feel the urge to skim these parts, but on the whole, the narrative is engaging.

An expert, extremely detailed account of John Adams' finest hour.

Kirkus Reviews