[act-ma] (Wed.) 12/11 Nathaniel Philbrick and J.L. Bell on Bunker Hill and Leadership at Cambridge Forum

[Cambridge Forum]

Cambridge Forum

3 Church Street ! Cambridge, MA 02138

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email: director at cambridgeforum.org

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Release November 26, 2013


Bunker Hill and the Crisis of Leadership in Revolutionary America


On Wednesday December 11, 2013, Cambridge Forum, in collaboration with the Friends of the Longfellow House-Washington's Headquarters, hosts Nathaniel Philbrick, author of Bunker Hill, A City A Siege, A Revolution, in conversation with historian J.L. Bell on the crisis of leadership in the early years of the American Revolution. The forum takes place at 7:00 pm at the First Parish in Cambridge, 1446 Massachusetts Avenue in Harvard Square.


The bloody Battle of Bunker Hill in Charlestown on June 17, 1775 exposed leadership problems for both British and American forces and stirred up bitter arguments that echoed for decades. Even as the fighting took place, the Continental Congress in Philadelphia was choosing a new commander. Who were the problematic leaders in place on that hot June day? What new qualities of leadership did George Washington bring to the American army licking its wounds outside Boston?


Nathaniel Philbrick, is a leading authority on the history of Nantucket Island. He serves as director of the Egan Institute of Maritime Studies and is a research fellow at the Nantucket Historical Association. Philbrick has authored or edited more than ten books for adults and children on sailing, Nantucket history, and Massachusetts history. His In the Heart of the Sea won the 2000 National Book Award for non-fiction, and Mayflower was a finalist for the 2007 Pulitzer Prize. His latest book, Bunker Hill: A City, A Siege, A Revolution, which received the 2013 New England Book Award for non-fiction, combines detailed research, a wealth of first-person sources, and gripping narration to tell the story of the first real battle of the American Revolution. Philbrick has appeared on "NBC Today Weekend", A&E's "Biography" series, and National Public Radio and has served as a consultant for the movie "Moby Dick", shown on the USA Network.


J. L. Bell is a writer who specializes in the start of the American Revolution in New England. He maintains the Boston1775.net website and is particularly interested in the experiences of children in Revolutionary America. Bell recently completed a major study for the National Park Service on Gen. George Washington’s work in Cambridge during the siege of Boston. He serves as administrator for the Friends of the Longfellow House–Washington’s Headquarters.


Co-sponsored by the National Park Service, Longfellow House–Washington’s Headquarters National Historic Site and Boston National Historical Park; the Massachusetts Society of the Cincinnati; and the Cambridge Historical Society.


The program is free and open to the public. Cambridge Forum is recorded and edited for public radio broadcast. Edited podcasts are available at www.cambridgeforum.org.  Select forums can also be viewed in their entirety on YouTube.

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Cambridge Forum
3 Church Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
Phone:  617-495-2727
email:  mailto:director at cambridgeforum.org
website:  http://www.cambridgeforum.org

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