A Tale of Two Bostons: Emergence of the Boston Men

A Tale of Two Bostons reconstructs the trans-Atlantic origins of Boston, Massachusetts by tracing its foundations back to its English namesake: Boston, Lincolnshire. Drawing on parish registers, legal charters, migration records, and family networks, Barry Arthur Cotton reveals how a small market town on England’s east coast produced a disproportionate share of the clergy, magistrates, merchants, and ministers who shaped early New England. These men—later known as the “Boston Men”—formed the governing, religious, and institutional core of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

EARLY 5 STAR REVIEWS:
Jamie Michele for Readers’ Favorite writes:
“Barry Arthur Cotton’s A Tale of Two Bostons shows us the linked histories of Boston in Lincolnshire and Boston in Massachusetts, and how one community’s decisions shaped another's thousands of miles away. Cotton's writing is accessible while still providing genuinely detailed material, and it is clear that the research was exhaustive. Readers interested in early modern history, colonial administration, or the bridge between the UK and America will enjoy this book. It's also well-suited for classroom study and independent academic reading. Very highly recommended.”

Eve LaPlante, author of “American Jezebel” writes:
“A gap in our shared knowledge has recently been filled by Barry Arthur Cotton in his book, A Tale of Two Bostons.”

Kirkus Reviews writes:
“Historians will find a trove of useful data on everyone associated with the Company, along with appendices reprinting important documents, charters, and Dudley’s evocative letter describing the deaths and hardships endured by colonists. Cotton’s prose is lucid and workmanlike, and he includes raucous anecdotes—Harvard’s first professor was prosecuted for beating students with a cudgel, and his wife accused of feeding them hasty pudding adulterated with goat dung—as well as piquant biographical sketches like the transformative love [John] Cotton experienced in marriage filled his sermons with connubial and oral images full of sexual innuendo.”

Demetria Head for Readers’ Favorite writes:
“A Tale of Two Bostons: Emergence of the Boston Men by Barry Arthur Cotton takes readers through the history of how politics, religion, and social forces led to the founding of Boston, Massachusetts. Barry Arthur Cotton presents a detailed and structured account of how the historical developments were all connected. There was a careful balance of political history and personal relationships. In my opinion, readers would appreciate the way the author connected events such as the Petition of Right and the Royal Charter to the experiences of the Boston Men. A Tale of Two Bostons is well-developed, like Nathanial Philbrick’s Mayflower. It is insightful and immersive.”

Christian Sia for Readers’ Favorite writes:
“A Tale of Two Bostons exhibits exemplary scholarship, featuring over 230 sources, 70 of which are primary, including Privy Council records, parish registers, the minutes of the Massachusetts Bay Company, and more. Barry Arthur Cotton delivers an appendix that reproduces documents such as the Cambridge Agreement, the Royal Charter, and the 1629 Petition of Right. This book was an eye-opener for me, and besides the detailed history, the author was able to unravel two decades of archives that illustrate the kinship ties like the Clinton-Fiennes marriages that shaped patterns in migration and investment.”