The Ride: Paul Revere and the Night That Saved America

Author: Kostya Kennedy
Genre: Non-Fiction
Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group, 2025
Pages: 304
Rating: Do Not Recommend

Synopsis: On April 18, 1775, a Boston-based silversmith, engraver, and anti-British political operative named Paul Revere set out on a borrowed horse to fulfill a dangerous but crucial mission: to alert American colonists of advancing British troops, which would seek to crush their nascent revolt.

Revere was not the only rider that night, and indeed, he had completed at least 18 previous rides across New England and other colonies, disseminating intelligence about British movements. But this ride was like no other, and its consequences in the months and years to come - as the American Revolution morphed from isolated skirmishes to a full-fledged war - became one of our founding legends.

Review: I have never in my life been bored with the history, let alone with the Revolutionary War. However, this book changed all that. It was difficult to get engaged, but I hung in there thinking the chapter on "the ride" itself would be pulse pounding and exciting. I was wrong.

I did enjoy the chapter about William Dawes. He was an entertaining character who isn't given much notice in history books or novels about the war.

As another reviewer on Goodreads said, this was a 20 page term paper dragged out for 200 pages.