i really enjoyed reading this book, I liked how well researched it was and how interesting it was. I look forward to more from the authors.

A fascinating look at the judicial system in 1770 a view of John Adams.This is Dan Abrams third book of history & the judiciary system.Informative well written very interesting.#netgalley#randomhouse.

I've read all three of Abrams books based on trials which involved well-known historical figures. Through his books, I've learned a lot about the development of our modern system of law in the US. This is my second favorite of the three. Because so much of the trial depended upon the conflicting accounts by various witnesses of what they observed and who said what, it at times felt a bit repetitive. Yet following this level of details opened up much of the unruly nature of America's movement towards independence from Britain. My admiration of John Adams grew - a man who saw the importance of a legal process, not mob justice, even though he didn't personally support the British soldiers.

First line: John Adams, the thirty-four-year-old Boston lawyer, was passing a convivial evening with members of his longtime arts and social club at the home of Henderson Inches when the shots were fired.

Summary: After the events of March 5, 1770 in Boston, John Adams took on the role of defending the soldiers who fired on the citizens of Boston. It became known as the Boston Massacre. It seemed like a mistake for such a prominent lawyer to defend the “enemy” but he believed that everyone deserves a fair trial and good representation.

My Thoughts: This was an interesting look into one of the sparks of the American Revolution. The fact that one of the founding fathers of our nation defended the soldiers of the monarchy is strange but it shows how much he believed in the law and what it stood for. I learned several new things while reading/listening to this book. It is amazing how many different opinions and eyewitness accounts there were and how much the differed. I did start to lose interest after hearing the same accounts over and over (basically). It was well researched and written.

FYI: Very detailed and in depth.

Filled with great facts and thoroughly researched this book weaves together the facts to turn an interesting tale of a wonderful topic into a must read.

250 years after the Boston Massacre, most people couldn't really tell you anything about it. Maybe they assume it was a battle during the Revolutionary War. And in a way, it was. Years before shots were fired at Lexington and Concord, they were fired in Boston's King Street. When the smoke cleared, five Boston civilians were dead. But what happened before that has never satisfactorily been explained. And the importance this incident had to the developing country of America and its legal system has not been acknowledged.

In John Adams Under Fire authors Dan Abrams and David Fisher shine new light on the events leading up to the shooting, but also use trial transcripts to bring the reader into the courtroom as "Loyalists' and 'Patriots' are asked to put aside their personal political feelings as well as all of the rhetoric they've heard in newspapers and on the streets. Instead, the jury is asked to focus only on what they hear in the court to decide if eight British soldiers and their captain committed murder on the night of March 5, 1770 or protected themselves against a rioting mob. In a clear example of everyone having the right to an attorney, the soldiers find themselves defended by lawyers who are 'Patriots', including new lawyer John Adams (who would go on to sign the Declaration of Independence) while the prosecutors were well-known British 'Loyalists. While social pressure pushed for quick 'guilty' verdicts, the judges, lawyers, and juries were asked to ignore the popular view in favor of the legal view.

What results is a well-written, fast-paced, and fascinating account of America's longest trial at the time. I especially appreciated the attention to detail as the trial continued, including explaining new developments in the legal system that made the trials closer to what modern readers are used to than previous court cases. That by itself makes this book worth reading, but Abrams and Fisher place the case in context in such a way that readers are able to understand exactly the role the case played in the development of the American legal system, and American independence.

A surprisingly fast and smooth read, this is a book history lovers will appreciate, and students of the legal system should read, yet at the same time, everyone else will still enjoy for it's down to earth writing, well-crafted descriptions, and attention to detail.


I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

John Adams has always been known for being one of the most impassioned and eloquent of our Founding Fathers, and as our second president. But he had a life before his well-deserved fame, and this book tells of part of it. The Boston Massacre is well-known, but the part which Adams played in the aftermath is not.

Adams was a thirty-four-year-old Boston attorney when he agreed to defend the British soldiers who either committed an unprovoked massacre of peaceful Boston citizens, or were defending themselves from a mob. The officer in charge was tried separately from the rest of the soldiers. By sheer good fortune a transcript still exists from the second trial.

Dan Abrams, the author of this book, also wrote a fabulous book to which I gave a glowing review, called “Lincoln’s Last Trial.” It was a trial in which Abraham Lincoln was the defense attorney, and a transcript in shorthand still existed from it. How Abrams finds these marvelous documents is beyond me, but I am super-grateful that he does because the books he writes are fascinating.

I enjoyed this book very much. Some people apparently thought that the details of the trials were tedious; I must be a legal nerd, I thought they were interesting. I was interested in the effects of the trials on the local citizenry, as well as on American jurisprudence. I admit, my husband and son-in-law are lawyers, so I may be inured to legal talk!

I can happily recommend this book to anyone interested in American history (or British history, come to that), or American jurisprudence, or anyone interested in reading a true account of a well-known but little understood pivotal moment in the run-up to the American War for Independence. I hope that the author has another historical work in mind.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC. The opinions are my own.

250 years ago the Boston Massacre marked the beginning of the American Revolution. The mythos handed down tells how British Redcoats fired into a crowd of Americans, resulting in the death of freeman Crispus Attucks and other men.

The soldiers and their superior were put on trial separately. Samuel Adams wanted to capitalize on the incident to inflame anti-British sentiment and support the Sons of Liberty.

John Adams was part of the team to defend the Redcoats. He wanted to keep politics out of it and to prove the fairness and impartiality of American justice.

I knew it was a pivotal trial in American judicial history and I thought it would be interesting to learn more.

Dan Abrams' book John Adams Under Fire follows the incident and the testimonies at the trials in meticulous detail. The trials set new precedents in the length of the trials, extending over days, and the judge's warning of 'reasonable' doubt' tending toward a verdict of not guilty.

I have to admit that with pages and pages of testimony reproduced in the book I scanned over many pages without a through reading. It was...frankly, boring...

But I am not a scholar or a lawyer.

I appreciated many aspects of the book including a deeper understanding of the roots of the riot.

British soldiers stationed were in Boston, one lobsterback to every three citizens. Bostonians resented their presence and their conduct toward. Some soldier took jobs to supplement their meager income, and some courted young women, but they also pushed their weight around and raped young women.

Young Bostonian men decided to give the sentries a hard time, taunting them to lash back by firing their guns. The youth threw ice balls and carried clubs and struck the guns. They knew the soldiers could not fire in anger.

Until they did.

Since Americans did in the end sent the Brits back across the pond, our history is biased. Paul Revere's picture of soldiers firing and citizens dying shows Americans as victims. Crispus has become a hero, even if he was likely one of the men out to stir up trouble in the first place.

A book not for the reader who prefers narrative nonfiction that reads like a novel, I am still pleased to have increases my understanding of this pivotal moment in America history.

I was given access to a free ebook by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

Net Galley review

Dan Abrams and David Fisher: John Adams under fire: The founding father’s fight for justice in the Boston Massacre murder trial. Hanover Square Press, 2020

As a reader of history rather than an academic historian, I was interested in reviewing John Adams Under Fire. My interest in the historical period was my primary motivation, but I was also fascinated with the details surrounding a segment of Adams’s life. He was a 34-year-old lawyer at the time of the Boston Massacre (March 5, 1770) and not yet well known for his formidable skills. The book places the events associated with the Massacre within the context of the British occupation of the Boston area, then zeros in of the two trials that followed the killings on the streets of Boston.

What draws the reader into the text are the details of both trials and the impact of events on the various individuals (citizens, lawyers, judges, British soldiers and officers) who were involved with the March 5 conflict. Of great importance to the narrative, especially in the trials of Captain Thomas Preston and eight soldiers under his command, are surviving documents from participants as well as a transcription in the second trial, providing a wealth of information on the Massacre itself and its aftermath.

The impact of the events on Adams’s career, in the short term, was immediate, with a loss of clients to his practice. The book, however, broadens the focus at several points to examine the rule of law current at the time of the Massacre. The actions of Adams and his colleagues during the trials influenced the establishment of core judicial principals including the concept of reasonable doubt as well as requirements for deliberation by juries. Readers looking for coverage of the evolution of American law will enjoy the text, as will readers interested in the events surrounding the war for American independence.

An interesting insider view of the judicial system in 1770 America. My knowledge of John Adams is limited, so to read a book, that combines his words and others to describe a trial, was eye opening. While very young, I believe the book said 24, John Adams represented British soldiers on trial in Boston. Transcripts of the actual trials were mysteriously destroyed, but written accounts and memoirs fill in some of the gaps. A well written book, although perhaps someone with a stronger interest and understanding of law proceedings would find this more useful. Would recommend, especially if interesting in Revolutionary history.

I could not finish reading this book. I felt this book was so repetitive , boring and uninformative . John Adams was a great man, lawyer and president. This book could have brought the reader insight into all these aspects of this great leader it did not.. I was very disappointed and tried several time to finish this book but failed.