A concise and highly readable biography[ Hancocks] legacy is very much worth our remembering. -- William Anthony Hay * Wall Street Journal * [ An] approachable biographyAmerican history buffs will enjoy the immersive portrait of Bostons Revolutionary era. * Publishers Weekly * King Hancock is a vastly enjoyable work of popular history that wears its impressive scholarship lightly. It deftly explains the wider forces that unraveled the colonists close bonds with the mother country The book also features an almost tactile account of what it was like to live in Boston in the eighteenth century. -- Marc M. Arkin * New Criterion * Brings careful nuance and deep historical context to a figure known by most Americans only for his larger-than-life signature on the Declaration of IndependenceHancock emerges as a fully fleshed-out human being, replete with virtues and flaws both typical and atypical for his time, and driven not just by high ideals and momentous events but also by the mundane trivialities, petty hardships, and simple pleasures of eighteenth-century life. -- Donald F. Johnson * American Historical Review * A terrific book. Barbiers meticulous research sheds light on how one of the wealthiest men of his time made himself into a man of the peoplea politician whose genuine capacity for sensing the popular mood commanded fierce loyalty, even as he clashed with both Loyalists and radical Patriots. John Hancock was an important figure, and this biography helps restore him to his proper place. -- Robert J. Allison, author of The American Revolution: A Very Short Introduction Barbier has written a fine biography, carefully guiding readers through Hancocks life, his political career, and the world around him. In our politically polarized times, this founding fathers legacy of political moderation is sure to resonate. -- Benjamin L. Carp, author of The Great New York Fire of 1776: A Lost Story of the American Revolution In this lively and insightful biography, Barbier illuminates John Hancocks mastery of popular politics in an age of revolution. Drawing on a rich and profound knowledge of eighteenth-century Boston, she recovers the social world of a leader whose skills extended far beyond his celebrated penmanship. -- Alan Taylor, Pulitzer Prizewinning author of American Revolutions: A Continental History, 17501804 An exuberant biography, well told and spirited. As we follow John Hancock through the turmoil that led to the Revolution, we see a man guided more by a desire to charm, entertain, and curry favor with both elites and ordinary people than by a rigid commitment to a specific politics or ideology. In Barbiers hands Hancocks life unfolds as dramatic theater. -- Sharon V. Salinger, author of Taverns and Drinking in Early America Hancocks success might seem inevitable given his resources, his canny political sensibility, and just plain good fortune. Yet, as Ms. Barbier suggests, biography and history are contingent. What looks inescapable did not seem so to those who struggled to create a new country. -- Carl Rollyson * New York Sun *
