Richard D. Brown (1) (1939–)

This work discusses how information and viewpoints on current affairs spread through word of mouth, newspapers and books in 18th and 19th century America. It also shows how an individual's efforts and motivations to assemble information were in some cases influenced by social status and gender. The author has studied the diaries of about 20-30 individuals and provides a pretty comprehensive analysis of the information that seemed to have interested each diary-keeper and how they had acquired it. This highly individualized research perspective is interesting, but I was expecting broader conclusions than the ones the author now comes up with. At least some of the information diffusion phenomena he describes in this book were probably quite unique either to America or the British colonial empire, so some kind of contrast to information diffusion in other places (ruled by autocratic monarchies, for example?) would have made the conclusions more striking. But that is of course a lot to ask. This book also contains an interesting chapter about how news of certain key events (Lexington and Concord, George Washington's death and Lincoln's assassination) spread through the land. It was a shame that this chapter was not longer. Nevertheless, despite its limitations I enjoyed reading the book and it can be recommended to readers who are interested in this subject.… (meer)

An exemplary microhistory, this one of an 1806 execution in Berkshire County, Massachusetts. Ephraim Wheeler, a poor farmer, was convicted and hanged for committing rape against his own 13-year-old daughter, and the Browns reconstruct the trial and its aftermath ably. They use the case as a jumping-off point to explore the use of capital punishment in early national Massachusetts, the crime of incestuous rape, and the political swirlings around the case (though they might, perhaps, have done a bit more with this last).

Difficult to read in places, but very clearly written and excellently researched.… (meer)