Current Release
Martha's Vineyard in the American Revolution
available now!
Order a copy today on this site!
Or pick up a copy at Bunch of Grapes, Edgartown Books or Phillips Hardware on Island
Check out newspaper reviews in the BOOKS section of this site.
If you missed recent book talks, this links to the Vineyard Haven Library talk on December 14, 2021. passcode: J2m0^?rg.
https://us06web.zoom.us/rec/share/gIUcyIfyE64b3Seoy0U3YhBdRJeR1uLjjSP5GGNMZQ1J8fTP4-19WtdjSUPpMUQX.ro_MiyEDxg2XHrjt
I love comments from people who have enjoy my books. Or have a question or concern.
Recently I heard from someone working on a book about the Vineyard in World War II; another person was studying the Wampanoag on the Vineyard for her thesis, and a third person asked if I'd share some ghost stories with a local group. What fun!
Esteemed author John Hough, of West Tisbury, read Martha's Vineyard in the American Revolution. Here are his impressions.
"The late Tip O'Neill of Massachusetts, longtime Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, said famously, "All politics is local." Tom Dresser, in his charming oeuvre of Vineyard lore and history, reminds us that all history is, too.
Martha's Vineyard in the American Revolution is a case in point. Loyalists and patriots quarreled on the Vineyard, tea was smuggled in, British regulars invaded, the Royal Navy flung cannonballs at towns and farms, a Liberty Pole was raised and then burned, and, once, John Paul Jones sneaked his vessel into what is now Vineyard Haven Harbor.
Mr. Dresser tells these stories and many others with winsome readability. This is history made interesting--and fun. The usual MO, in other words, for Tom Dresser."
"The late Tip O'Neill of Massachusetts, longtime Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, said famously, "All politics is local." Tom Dresser, in his charming oeuvre of Vineyard lore and history, reminds us that all history is, too.
Martha's Vineyard in the American Revolution is a case in point. Loyalists and patriots quarreled on the Vineyard, tea was smuggled in, British regulars invaded, the Royal Navy flung cannonballs at towns and farms, a Liberty Pole was raised and then burned, and, once, John Paul Jones sneaked his vessel into what is now Vineyard Haven Harbor.
Mr. Dresser tells these stories and many others with winsome readability. This is history made interesting--and fun. The usual MO, in other words, for Tom Dresser."
John Hough is the author of The Sweetest Days.. His latest tome is a memorable read, a tale of triumphs and trauma, written in a passionate, poignant style. My wife Joyce says it's a real page-turner, a romance that holds the reader from the first page.
Martha's Vineyard in the American Revolution explores the Revolution as it unfolded across the Vineyard. The Island was impacted by events from London to Boston, and Vineyarders feared severing ties with the mother country. British patrols along Vineyard Sound, and incursions on the Elizabeth Islands threatened the tranquility of Island life. War was imminent.
Vineyarders were a cagey lot. They sought safety first through neutrality, then independence. That middle ground led to ostensibly being considered neutral by both Loyalists and Patriots, although the majority of Vineyarders tended toward independence. Learn how this story unfolded over the course of the war, from pre-war debates over the Stamp Act in the 1760s to the desperate activities of the late 1770s. Martha's Vineyard was right there, as the action unfolded during the Revolution.
Read the tale of Vineyarders who lead their fellow Islanders in the War for Independence. Discover the background of myths we've heard over the years, from the Liberty Pole ladies to General Grey's Raid. Learn the back-story of what really happened. Grasp the depth of dismay at an attack by the British on the Vineyarder's homeland.
Check out Martha's Vineyard in the American Revolution. NOW AVAILABLE!....
email me at thomasdresser@gmail.com
see below
Zoom Book Talk offered by the Aquinnah Library on Saturday December 4, 2021. Because it was held at 11 am, friends from Scotland, Finland, England and Switzerland could participate in the program without staying up past their bedtime. How great to visit with friend and family from afar.
My latest book is:
Martha's Vineyard in the American Revolution.
Next up:
Martha's Vineyard in the Roaring Twenties: Radicals and Rascals to be published this May.
And next is a book on Vineyard Black legacy home ownership. The beat goes on...
We know the struggle General Washington had to win the Revolution. We've got the details on how the War unfolded on Martha's Vineyard. Learn about the sermons of Chilmark's Jonathan Mayhew against the Stamp Act. Discover the clever piloting of Captain Nathan Daggett leading to Cornwallis' surrender in Yorktown. Vineyard heroes were in the thick of Revolutionary fervor.
Read all about it in Martha's Vineyard in the American Revolution, available NOW at Edgartown Books, Bunch of Grapes, Phillips Hardware and thomasdresser@gmail.com!
To order your copy, fill out the form below.
Do it now, before you forget!
Read all about it in Martha's Vineyard in the American Revolution, available NOW at Edgartown Books, Bunch of Grapes, Phillips Hardware and thomasdresser@gmail.com!
To order your copy, fill out the form below.
Do it now, before you forget!
Below is an woodcut by Dr. Charles Banks. It shows the local Sea Coast Defense Company preparing to protect the Vineyard during the Revolutionary War. Courtesy of the Martha's Vineyard Museum.
Fill out and submit this form to request an autographed copy of Martha's Vineyard in the American Revolution.
I will mail out a copy as soon as possible.
I will mail out a copy as soon as possible.