Why Longfellow Lied

Most people assume Paul Revere became a household name the moment he galloped through the night to warn of advancing British troops. In fact, his fame came slowly, and at first few people in Boston wanted to talk about the ride at all. Jeff Lantos takes apart Longfellow's poem Paul Revere's Ride, showing where it departs from what happened and asking why its author bent the facts.

Lantos tells the true story of Revere's ride and corrects the record. He also explains when Longfellow wrote the poem and what led him to write it, and he shows how the poem shaped the way later generations remember Revere, to the point that many readers would know little about him otherwise.

Written for younger readers, the book is comparable to Steve Sheinkin's history titles for that audience. It follows a mystery drawn from American history and looks closely at two important moments in the nation's past.