News and Blog
(The World According to Carp?)
Getting beyond the "Bedtime Story"
Shepherd has me doing one of their “Top Five” lists today: riffing on a line I love from a book review by Jan Lewis, I chose “The best books that get beyond the ‘bedtime story’ of the American Revolution.”
I probably should have written this more than a year ago, but I found it difficult to come up with a top five list! There are already quite a few lists on the American Revolution (Kathleen DuVal did one recently), and I have so many favorite books (and favorite authors) that it seemed impossible to narrow down. Most of my favorites, of course, are academic books, and the site tries to discourage contributors from being too academic. So I chose two of my favorite historical fiction books about the Revolution, two classics, and a relative newcomer that I’ve had success assigning to undergraduates. None had received a lot of attention on Shepherd yet (even though they are all well regarded books).
New article for Current and NYCFM talk tonight!
I’ve just written a piece for Current about the religious angle on the Great New York Fire. Check it out! "Timber Burning”: The Great New York Fire of 1776
Also, Bruce Twickler (author of New York Firefighting and the American Revolution) is having a “Fireside Chat” with me at the New York City Fire Museum tonight (March 7) , in conjunction with a private viewing of the Colonial Wing of the museum.
Paperback Party!
Hot on the heels of the audiobook release, today is the release of the paperback edition of The Great New York Fire of 1776: A Lost Story of the American Revolution.
I now have a link where you can register for the talk I’m giving at the College of Staten Island on February 23
Jake Suggs of American HIstory Gazette chatted with me about the Boston Tea Party: you can watch the video or listen to the podcast version .
Happy Audiobook release day!
Today is the publication day for the audiobook of The Great New York Fire of 1776: A Lost Story of the American Revolution. Have a listen! And if you’re still not sure whether it’s a book worth investigating, subscribers to the Journal of Military History can check out the great review that Professor T. Cole Jones wrote.
Meanwhile, stay tuned for the paperback release day next week!
Brooklyn College did a short video interview with me; I’m pretty sure my work on the Boston Tea Party is featured in the first 2024 issue of American Heritage magazine and there’s another online piece on the way.
In other news, I have just two more online talks scheduled, at the North Jersey American Revolution Round Table and the College of Staten Island History Department. I will also appear on a couple more podcasts in the near future, and I’ll let you know about those when they’re released, but since those are already recorded, I can start thinking about future projects. It’s been quite a year! Thanks to everyone who read, tuned in, or said a kind word.
Coming up in 2024
After a whirlwind fall of talks on both the Great New York City Fire of 1776 and the Boston Tea Party of 1773, which celebrated its 250th anniversary on December 16, 2023, my schedule finally seems to be calming down somewhat. But I am still doing a couple of Zoom events in January, as well as some private events in New Jersey, New York, and Florida, in January and February. Please see the Events page for more information!
I did publish an article reflecting on my experiences at the Boston Tea Party reenactment, which you can read about at HNN/Bunk History. I also chatted with Smithsonian Magazine.
Thanks to all the wonderful audiences who invited me to speak about the American Revolution and its legacy during the very busy year of 2023. Happy New Year to everyone!
Oh, and stay tuned! The paperback edition of The Great New York Fire of 1776: A Lost Story of the American Revolution should be available soon, as well as (I think!) the audiobook! The great Vaughn Scribner wrote a really nice review of the book for H-Environment, and Gene Procknow (who previously reviewed the book for the Journal of the American Revolution) called the book one of the best he read in 2023.
Agh, there’s much more! Colonial Williamsburg published a cool piece on the Boston Tea Party, and I appeared on several podcasts, and even a couple of TV shows, over the past months. I’ve tried to stay on top of all that on social media, but not on this blog, for which I apologize! Best wishes to all for 2024.
Anniversary of the Great New York Fire
Today is the 247th anniversary of the Great New York Fire of 1776 (and also the first anniversary of this humble blog!) Some exciting things have been happening in the past few weeks!
To commemorate the event I published a piece in the New York Daily News today. Subscribers can read it here!
I published a piece in the Chronicle of Higher Education, “We’re Not Doing Enough for Grad Students at Conferences”
I wrote a review for EH.Net on Jeremy Land’s Colonial Ports, Global Trade, and the Roots of the American Revolution, 1700–1776; apparently it’s a rule now that I have a movie reference in every book review I write
Erik Ofgang wrote a piece for Connecticut Magazine, “Did CT soldiers help spark the Great New York Fire of 1776? It's very likely, according to a new book”
Over the summer I helped supervise students for the Gardiner Foundation Semiquincentennial Student Fellowship Project (follow the link to read more about it) and a Brooklyn College student was featured in this story!
Thanks to everyone who has gotten in touch with me via the website with inquiries and invitations!
Summer's End: Upcoming Events
Well, after a long break from the blog, here are some upcoming events! You can see fuller details for some of these on the events page, too.
August 23 (Wednesday), 7 pm to 8:30 pm, In Person, “The Great New York Fire of 1776: A Lost Story of the American Revolution,” Non-Fiction at the Bryant Park Reading Room series, Bryant Park, NY [free]
September 17 (Sunday), 2 pm, Online, Book Breaks, Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
September 17 (Sunday), 7 pm to 8:30 pm, Online, “The Boston Tea Party and the Making of America,” Emerging Revolutionary War [link to livestream]
September 26 (Tuesday), 7 pm to 8 pm, Online, “A Hat Trick with author Benjamin L. Carp!” HistoryAuthorTalks.com [click here to register]
October 12 (Thursday), 6:30 pm (preceded by reception at 5 pm), In Person, “American Creation, American Destruction: The 250th Anniversary of the Boston Tea Party and 1776,” H. Nicholas Hamner Lecture, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI
October 25 (Wednesday), noon to 1 pm, Online, “The Great New York Fire of 1776: A Lost Story of the American Revolution,” New York State Library Public Webinars [click on link to register]
…and stay tuned for more Boston Tea Party talks in December!
More exciting news!
I haven’t been updating the blog very much, for which I apologize! But there have still been some exciting things going on.
I had a wonderful talk at Mount Vernon, which you can watch via that link.
I also had a great exchange at the CUNY Graduate Center, hosted by the Early American Republic Seminar, with David Waldstreicher about our books: you can check out his The Odyssey of Phillis Wheatley which has also recently come out.
The Graduate Center of CUNY interviewed me: “Who Burned New York in 1776?”
Erik Ofgang, writing for Smithsonian Magazine, asks more specifically, “Did George Washington Order Rebels to Burn New York City in 1776?”
Dozens of colleagues were recognized at the Brooklyn College Faculty Authors Reception, which is held each spring.
Along with other colleagues, I will receive an Award for Excellence in Scholarly and Creative Achievement at Brooklyn College, at a ceremony at the end of the Annual Faculty Day Conference this week.
And there is more to come! Upcoming talks:
May 18 (Thursday), 6:30 pm, In Person, “Lost Stories: How the New York City Fire of 1776 Illuminates Unfamiliar Lives of the American Revolution,” sponsored by New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, Fraunces Tavern, New York. Please register using the link!
May 22, 7:30 pm (Monday), In Person, “The Great New York Fire of 1776: A Lost Story of the American Revolution,” American Revolution Round Table of Philadelphia, Montgomery, PA (arrive an hour early for food and drink)
May 23 (Tuesday), 6 pm, In Person and Online, “The Great New York Fire of 1776: A Lost Tale of the American Revolution,” General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen of the City of New York in partnership with the New York Landmarks Conservancy, in New York (advance registration required, whether online or in person).
May 30 (Tuesday), 7 pm, Online, “Benjamin L. Carp on Urban Geographies of the American Revolution,” Richard H. Brown Seminar on the Historical Geography of the American Revolutionary Era at the Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center at the Boston Public Library and the American Revolutionary Geographies Online (ARGO) project. Free and open to the public. Register here!
More media stuff!
I chatted with A. J. Woodhams for his War Books Podcast: the audio is up on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Also, Paulina Gajewski wrote about my event with Barnet Schecter (and about the book) for a campus publication, the Brooklyn College Vanguard: “Rebels, Radicals, Revolutionaries: Benjamin Carp’s Book On The Great New York Fire”
Upcoming Book Talks (second April posting)
Beyond spring break, here’s what my schedule looks like for the next two months. You can see fuller details for some of these on the events page, too.
April 27 (Tuesday), 7 pm to 8 pm, Online and In Person, “The Great New York Fire of 1776,” Ford Evening Book Talk Series, George Washington’s Mount Vernon, Mount Vernon, VA [free]
May 5 (Friday), 4 to 5:30 pm, In Person, Joint Book Presentation, with David Waldstreicher, Graduate Center, CUNY, New York. RSVP here!
May 18 (Thursday), 6:30 pm, In Person, “Lost Stories: How the New York City Fire of 1776 Illuminates Unfamiliar Lives of the American Revolution,” sponsored by New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, Fraunces Tavern, New York. Please register using the link!
May 22, 7:30 pm (Monday), In Person, “The Great New York Fire of 1776: A Lost Story of the American Revolution,” American Revolution Round Table of Philadelphia, Montgomery, PA (arrive an hour early for food and drink)
May 23 (Tuesday), 6 pm, In Person and Online, The Great New York Fire of 1776, General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen of the City of New York, New York
May 30 (Tuesday), 7 pm, Online, “Benjamin L. Carp on Urban Geographies of the American Revolution,” Richard H. Brown Seminar on the Historical Geography of the American Revolutionary Era at the Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center at the Boston Public Library and the American Revolutionary Geographies Online (ARGO) project. Free and open to the public. Register here!