Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this free ARC in return for my honest review.

Wonderful work by author Kostya Kenned,y who gives us a much more detailed look into the man Paul Revere. As we near the 250th anniversary of the ride Kennedy begins by posing questions as to how the American Revolution would have turned out had Revere not made that ride, even to the point of asking if the Revolution would have happened at all? From there we learn a lot about Revere's life and for me I found out so many details I was unaware of about Revere, and his role as an Express Rider and his role of getting messages throughout the Boston/New York/Philadelphia corridor. Revere was known as trusted by all in the Patriot group and it made perfect sense for him to make the ride. Yes William Dawes also helped, but nobody carried the gravitas of Revere whose words prompted others to ride out and get out the notice. Thoroughly researched and well written this is a book that we all should take the time to read. Solid 4.5****

Thank you @stmartinspress @kostyakennedy for the chance to review this book early. I really enjoyed this looking to the history of Paul Revere, and the American Revolution. I felt the book was really easy to follow along with very accessible and gives a lot of context about the laws King George was passing and the events that led up to the famous ride. I read it quite quickly. I enjoyed how he incorporated Longfellow poem about Paul Revere near the end of the book and how important Paul Revere is to American history.

ONE night that saved America
April 18, 1775 was the night before the Battles of Lexington and Concord. The night before the infamous "Shot Heard Around the World." What if the ride had never happened? A big thank you to Brown Beauty, the horse who carried him with excellence on that night.

TWO lanterns if by sea
The tower of the North Church was briefly illuminated by two lanterns at Revere's request to signal that the British were moving by water to invade.

THREE score Patriots were on the Crown's list of "enemies." Paul Revere was one of them having assisted with the Boston Tea Party and participated in other rebellious activities.

FOUR professional hats for Revere. He was a self-taught silversmith, engraver, and dentist as well as being a rider for the Patriots.

FIVE stars for a book that is perfect for reading as we commemorate the 250th anniversary of this famous night on April 18, 2025. Go with a print version if you can to see the fabulous photos and historical documents.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for a DRC as well as Macmillan Audio for an audio ARC. I was glad I paired the two so I could see the visuals in the print copy.

4 Stars

Any fan of the American Revolution will LOVE this book. Painstakingly detailed about the life and friendships of Paul Revere, with a heavy focus on April 18 and 19, 1775, The Ride is a fascinating glimpse into our nation's beginning. I appreciated the author's inclusion of the horses and other riders, emphasizing just how many people participated and pulled together to make room for America to be independent.

I received an ARC; this is my honest review.

“The Ride” is a story about Paul Revere that we have all heard in school but with so much more that you’ve never heard. So informative and well written.

I was able to get this through NetGalley. I received both the ebook and the audiobook. This book was a well researched telling of events in Paul Rever's life as the relate to his famous ride. It provides information on a few others that were also involved in this ride. The audiobook is narrated in a way that makes the liatener interested in the information. The voice is easy to listen to.

Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio for the digital copy of this book and audiobook; I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I previously read Kennedy’s work on Jackie Robinson True: The Four Seasons of #JackieRobinson by #KostyaKennedy and had to admit that while I generally do not like a hyper-focused history book, I loved it. The same can be said for The Ride, with one exception. I did not care for Johnny Heller’s narration at all! He sounded like a crotchety older history professor, his gravelly voice showing little emotion. But I soldiered on and listened to the whole book while following along with the text.

My favorite subjects in school were writing and United States history, especially the Revolutionary War. Not the battles, but the stories of the people involved in the revolution. Many of us learned the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poem, “Paul Revere’s Ride,” and Kennedy actually devotes a chapter to it.

The author does a more-than-adequate job of showing what life was like in Massachusetts for Paul Revere, including the fact that he once rang the bell at the Old North Church as a teenager every weekend. In fact, the depth of discussion of what life was like for many people in Massachusetts is explored (even slaves). The book also does a good job of showing the many other ways Revere helped the cause of the patriots besides his famous ride. The famous ride was not the first time Paul took to his horse, either. He delivered messages as far away as Philadelphia! Kennedy also gives credit to numerous others, including William Dawes, the other rider on that night.

There should be some introspection here when reading about the beginning of the American Revolution, especially these days, and what people were willing to do to break free from England. I highly recommend this book, but stick to the physical book or digital version, not audio!

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for letting me review this book. This was an informative read about Paul Revere as well as the other riders that alerted the Minutemen that fateful night. The book delves more into Revere’s life as well. He was cool under pressure.

I received an advance reading copy (arc) of this book from the publisher and NetGalley.com in exchange for a fair review. One thing I learned from 'The Ride' is that there was a whole lot more to Paul Revere than his fateful ride to warn the colonists that the British were coming. Author Kostya Kennedy brought to life one of the most famous Revolutionary War heroes who was immortalized in a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Kennedy traced the Revere roots back to France where his father, Apollos Rivoire, came from. After arriving in the New World, he changed his name to Paul Revere. His young son and namesake learned the silver trade from him and also earned extra money as a bell ringer in Boston's Old North Church. Revere was a man of many trades, including dentistry, and was often tasked to deliver messages on horseback. He participated in the Boston Tea Party and then took the news via horseback first to New York and then on to Philadelphia, before returning to Boston--a December trip of more than 700 miles that took him a total of eleven days. If you have any interest in Revolutionary War times or what Paul Revere's contributions to the rebellion really were, I would highly recommend this book.

The Ride
By Kostya Kennedy

The ride of the title, of course, is the ride best known as Paul Revere's ride. It took place starting on April 18, 1775 through April 19, 1775. As you can imagine, an event taking place over 24 hours, no matter how historically significant, does not provide enough filler for even a 200 page book.

Instead, the author provides lots of background leading up to the event – and further information and anecdotes during the event and afterword right up until today. We learn about William Dawes and other express riders who participated. We learn about Sybil Luddington, the "female Paul Revere". We meet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow who gave us the poem that made Revere famous around the world. These and other stories fill out the book.

There is a lot of speculation here. What would have happened if…? It is an interesting read – but there is not enough here to sub-title it "Paul Revere and the Night That Saved America".

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC.

Cool in thought, ardent in action. ~Paul Revere’s obituary, noted in The Ride by Kostya Kennedy

Everyone knows Longfellow’s 1860 poem on the midnight ride of Paul Revere. Kostya Kennedy tells how, on the floor of the senate, Senator Edward Kennedy recited the poem from memory to Senator Robert Byrd, who recited it back to him.

We know Revere as a hero of the American Revolution, and some of us know he was a silversmith, or that he engraved the famous picture of the Boston Massacre of the British firing on protesting patriots. But did you know that his April 18, 1775 ride was only one of many he made for the patriots? Or, that he also was a dentist? Or that after his ride, he was found by the British but let go? Or, that Revere was not the only person riding that night to spread the news, and one was a teenaged girl?

The Ride is filled with surprising details of Paul Revere’s life and service to his country. He was a first generation American without land, money, social standing, or education. He worked hard to support his family. He was a remarkable horseman, traveling from Boston to Philadelphia to bring news of the Boston Tea Party.

The British had confiscated the colonists’ arms and gunpowder and cannons to disarm them, shut down the port to trade, and were amassing ships and soldiers in Boston harbor. Samuel Adams and John Hancock fled town. But the patriots had secretly collected and hid armaments, prepared to defend their freedom.

Revere, as we all know, climbed the ladder to the tower of the Old North Church, lit two lanterns to warn the British were coming by sea, extinguished then, and climbed down, in the dark of night. He then rode from Boston to Lexington, warning patriots along the way while evading British soldiers.

The Ride is an accessible and entertaining history that finds the man in the legend, while affirming the remarkable achievements of the legend.

Thanks to the publisher for a free book through NetGalley

Even after reading this entire book, I’m still not really sure what it’s about. Some of it is Paul Revere’s life, some of it is American Revolutionary history, and some of it is ancillary facts. But there’s no real through-line, as far as I can tell. The book is too chaotic for me—I need an overarching story arc, or my mind wanders. This book reads more like a series of facts in no particular, with no organizing principle. The narrative is frequently interrupted by asides, without appropriate transitions, and I mostly had no idea where we were in time or how one event related to another.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

2.5 stars, rounded up. I seem to be in a minority with this book, which is a shame as I was really excited to read it. It's not a bad book, but I found the writing clunky as well as the way the story was laid out. Granted, unless you're writing historical fiction, it's pretty much impossible to build an entire book around one short horse ride, no matter how important that ride was. But we'd have a little of the linear timeline, then a plunge into some biographical or historical side story, then a lurch back to the linear timeline, then another digression. The flow was awkward and by the time we got to the actual riding part of Paul Revere's ride, I felt pretty checked out. I wonder if Kennedy should have given himself the free rein of writing this as a novel; his constant use of "could," "might," "perhaps," etc. grated on me. I did enjoy learning more details surrounding this slice of American history, especially since I've been to so many places in the story. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for a digital review copy.

I found this book very informative. Although I consider myself a history buff, there is a lot of information here that I did not know. It gives a lot more background on the Revolutionary War than we would ever have learned in school. Well done!!

I grew up in New England, walked The Freedom Trail, visited Paul Revere’s home, and thought I had a good foundation of the role Paul Revere played in the winning of the Revolutionary War. However, The Ride added a deeper, richer understanding of this historic figure. I never thought I could be gripped by the events of that April night two and a half centuries ago, but I galloped through the story the way Revere must have pushed on to carry his messages. The cardboard figure I knew from reciting Longfellow’s poem became a flesh and blood man of determination and courage, a man of such leadership he galvanized those around him.
To be honest, the author plays a little loose with details he could not really know, but which make the events come alive on the page. In doing so, he turns a chapter of a dusty old textbook into a vibrant story of the early days of our country, a time about which we can all be proud.

I read David Hackett Fischer's excellent Paul Revere's Ride a few decades ago and loved it. In the past 20+ years, I've forgotten the details about Revere's ride. Kennedy's book is an enjoyable look, not only at the Ride itself, but also of the context. It's also quite short, with the body of the book being only around 150 pages. Slated for publication just before the 250th anniversary of the ride, Kennedy has written an accessible book that I'm sure many people will appreciate.

(I've actually read another book by Kennedy--a baseball book, so I was interested to read his take on American history!)

It's not perfect. It is a bit short, and it has quite a few digressions (that are, admittedly, interesting; the Somerset, a ship that was in Boston harbor, rowed past by Revere, merits its own chapter and numerous mentions). His language can be flowery and the book somehow manages to feel repetitive at times, despite its short length.

Still, it's a good read. Kennedy does a great job showing life in 18th century Massachusetts for Paul Revere, starting with a story of Revere as a bell-ringer in the Old North Church as a teenager. He goes a lot into Revere's work for the Patriot cause, detailing the number of times he had ridden before, spreading news and delivering messages, sometimes even going as far as Philadelphia. Kennedy shows the run-up to the American Revolution through the eyes of Paul Revere, giving the night of April 18 a tension I hadn't thought about previously. Kennedy also does a good job giving credit to numerous others, including William Dawes, the other rider on that night.

Another theme Kennedy returns to a few times is the symbolism and significance of the ride. "What if Paul Revere hadn't been successful that night? What would've happened?" A chapter is devoted to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and his poem, showing both how the locals in Massachusetts admired Revere but how the rest of the world largely forgot him.

Kennedy does also have a chapter on slavery that I found interesting but also a bit frustrating. He gives the history of slavery in Massachusetts and the development of anti-slavery feeling, as well as attitudes of some of the figures in the book toward the institution. He includes how slavery died out early in Massachusetts...but didn't include the implications of the Triangle Trade and how even if the population of enslaved persons was low or nonexistent, the slave trade was still integral to Massachusetts's economy.

Overall, I'd definitely recommend. This is a great book for people casually interested in the topic, and honestly made me want to open up my copy of Paul Revere's Ride to go a bit more in-depth.

Many thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the free review of copy in exchange for my honest review.

"The Ride: Paul Revere and the Night That Saved America" by Kostya Kennedy is a thrilling odyssey through the rich tapestry of colonial America, breathing vibrant new life into a tale we thought was etched indelibly in our collective memory. Kennedy's prose is nothing short of alchemical, transmuting what could have been a leaden historical account into literary gold that glimmers with fresh insights and pulsates with the raw energy of revolution.

For history enthusiasts seeking a fresh perspective on the crucible of our nation's birth, "The Ride" is an intellectual feast not to be missed. Kennedy's engaging narrative and meticulous eye for detail will not only deepen your appreciation for the intricacies of this pivotal moment but also challenge your preconceptions. As you turn the final page, you'll find yourself not merely informed, but profoundly enlightened about the night that irrevocably altered the trajectory of a fledgling nation, leaving you pondering the ripple effects of those fateful hours across the centuries.

Thank you, St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley, for my free book.

The Ride: Paul Revere and the Night That Saved America, written by Kostya Kennedy, delves into the heroic journey of Paul Revere with a fresh perspective. Through extensive research, Kennedy uncovers lesser-known details of this iconic event that has been ingrained in American history. This captivating narrative offers valuable insights and is meticulously researched, shedding new light on a story that has been passed down through generations.

The Ride by Kostya Kennedy is an engrossing retelling of the ride of Paul Revere, analyzing the historical events and people that were involved with this historical event.

I enjoyed reading this book. It is detailed and well told overall. There were a few aspects that seemed repetitive or was told out of order, and I would have liked a bit more detail on Revere’s life after the ride.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for access to an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this book. It is an in depth commentary of the ride of Paul Revere and others that fateful April night. The insights into all the other people involved was excellent. Mr Kennedy does an excellent job of describing the world around this ride and all the people involved and patriots and British alike. Also there is great insight into Longfellow, who wrote the poem that immortalized the ride. Finally Kennedy brings us to present day and discussion with Paul Revere’s descendant about what knowledge has been handed down. A fantastic read!