Desperate Sons

Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry, John Hancock, and the Secret Bands of Radicals Who Led the Colonies to War

By: Les Standiford

Narrated by: Robert Fass

“Popular history in its most vital and accessible form. Standiford has recovered the mentality of America’s first group of young radicals, the Sons of Liberty, and tells their story with flair and grace.”
—Joseph J. Ellis, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Founding Brothers

Les Standiford’s Last Train to Paradise, the fascinating true account of the building of a railroad “across the ocean” from Miami to Key West, is already a classic of popular history. With Desperate Sons, the New York Times bestselling author of Bringing Adam Home tells the remarkable story of America’s first patriots, the Sons of Liberty, whose revolutionary acts have become legend. With all the suspense and power of a historical action thriller, Standiford’s Desperate Sons recounts the courage and tenacity of a hardy group that included Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry, and John Hancock—radical activists who were responsible for some of the most notorious events leading up to the American Revolution, from the Boston Tea Party to Paul Revere’s fabled midnight ride. Fans of David McCullough’s John Adams and 1776 will be riveted by this true history of young men inflamed by the fires of common purpose who helped a new nation to rise up against its British oppressor.

Sons of Liberty

This story is well known by most school children so what else can be said about? Les Standiford read reports by current historians as well as those of prior generation and put a bit of a different twist to the events. He covered Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry, John Hancock and John Otis in detail and followed their role leading up to open rebellion. The author also provided the British view point of events. Standiford tried to be neutral in presenting the story. He covered the Townsend act in great detail and its effects in the colonies including the Boston Tea Party. His underlying premise was that it was economic motivation that was the primary factor pushing these men and they used the feelings of injustice to propel their goals. The author spent more time discussing Samuel Adams than any one else but apparently he was a key factor with his writings about Boston the united everyone. Over all the book is interesting and it is good to review our beginnings. Robert Fass did a good job narrating the book. The book also contains a few pearls of information that are most interesting.

Great story

I liked the way the authoress able to give modern examples to give the reader an idea of what it was like during that time.

Accurate and ... well, ACCURATE

Without question, the top (of the 7) books I have read on the origins of the American Revolution. This book offers both British and Colonial perspectives of the origins. Cites multiple sources without delivering a lop-sided judgment.

Well done.

Breathless!

The narrator takes deep, audble breaths every few sentences, and I found the cumulative effect very distracting -- to the point that I couldn't concentrate on the material, and ended up returning the book after just about an hour or so (this is the first book I have returned in over 50 Audible selections). I don't know exactly what the problem was with this recording, since I have listened to several other books narrated by Robert Fass with no similar issue.. And I was really looking forward to the content of this book, so that's not a factor, either. I encourage you to listen carefully to the preview of this book, with the volume at your normal level in your normal listening environment (something I, unfortunately, did not do before purchasing). If you don't hear what I'm complaining about, or it doesn't bother you -- well, then it won't be a problem. (A word about the low "overall" and "story" ratings I have assigned: I didn't listen to enough of the book to form a true basis for judgment in those areas, but Audible requires a rating before it will let you move on.)

Dude, breathe through your nose!

This recording is unbelievably bad. The story is pretty good, but the actual reading is the worst I have ever heard because, Royster in LA is correct, Robert Fass keeps taking sharp breaths that make it sound like he's gasping for air.

All in all, I'd bet it's not his fault, because if it was, Audible would have been all over him to redo such a crappy job. So it just about has to be something that happened downstream from him. At least, that's what I hope.

Other than that, the book is fascinating history, really connecting the dots between individual happenings while also laying out some information that is entirely new. The lone exception is his potshot at the Tea Party movement in the end. Yes, one should always strive to make a good first impression, but making a good last impression isn't a bad idea either. Too bad he didn't do so.