A richly illustrated story of public transit in one of America’s most historic cities, from public ferry and horse-drawn carriage to the MBTA. A lively tour of public transportation in Boston over the years, Boston in Transit maps the complete history of the modes of transportation that have kept the city moving and expanding since its founding in 1630—from the simple ferry serving an English settlement to the expansive network of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, or MBTA. The story of public transit in Boston—once dubbed the Hub of the Universe—is a journey through the history of the American metropolis. With a remarkable collection of maps and architectural and engineering drawings at hand, Steven Beaucher launches his account from the landing where English colonists established that first ferry, carrying passengers between what is now Boston’s North End and Charlestown—and sparing them what had been a two-day walk around Boston Harbor. In the 1700s, horse-drawn coaches appeared on the scene, connecting Boston and Cambridge, with the bigger, better Omnibus soon to follow. From horse-drawn coaches, horse-drawn railways evolved, making way for the electric streetcar networks that allowed the city’s early suburbs to sprout—culminating in the multimodal, regional public transportation network in place in Boston today. With photographs, brochures, pamphlets, guidebooks, timetables, and tickets, Boston in Transit creates a complete picture of the everyday experience of public transportation through the centuries. At once a practical reference, local history, and travelogue, this book will be cherished by armchair tourists, day-trippers, and serious travelers alike.

In many histories of Boston, African Americans have remained almost invisible. Partly as a result, when the 1972 crisis over school desegregation and busing erupted, many observers professed shock at the overt racism on display in the "cradle of liberty." Yet the city has long been divided over matters of race, and it was also home to a far older Black organizing tradition than many realize. A community of Black activists had fought segregated education since the origins of public schooling and racial inequality since the end of northern slavery. Before Busing tells the story of the men and women who struggled and demonstrated to make school desegregation a reality in Boston. It reveals the legal efforts and battles over tactics that played out locally and influenced the national Black freedom struggle. And the book gives credit to the Black organizers, parents, and children who fought long and hard battles for justice that have been left out of the standard narratives of the civil rights movement. What emerges is a clear picture of the long and hard-fought campaigns to break the back of Jim Crow education in the North and make Boston into a better, more democratic city—a fight that continues to this day.

There's nothing more important to Bostonians than their sports teams. From the Red Sox and Celtics to the Patriots and Bruins to a number of major college programs, millions of fans from all generations discuss, debate, and live-and-die with their hometown squads all year long. In The Great Book of Boston Sports Lists, two high-profile sports-media pros -- along with original contributions from over 20 famous sports heroes and fans including Fred Lynn, Dave Goucher, Mike Eruzione, Dan Shaughnessy, Adam Vinatieri, Mayor Ray Flynn, Micky Ward, Zdeno Chara, Bill Rodgers, and more -- fan the flames of the ongoing sports debate with informative and entertaining lists that highlight and rank the best, worst, and most remarkable of local sports past and present.

Here come the Boston babies, ready to give you a tour of their favorite city! Spirited and charming images pair with playful text to introduce young readers to a group of smart, active, stylish, and just plain silly tots enjoying life in Boston. From the USS Constitution to the iconic Make Way for Ducklings sculpture in the Boston Public Garden, this entertaining book is an essential introduction to the fun, arts, and diversity in store for the babies of Boston. And the fun doesn’t end here. Boston Baby includes oodles of amusing activities and educational reading tips to help parents enjoy the book with their children over and over again!

"Herein, we bring you to sites that have been central to the lives of 'the people' of Greater Boston over four centuries. You'll visit sites associated with the area's indigenous inhabitants and with the individuals and movements who sought to abolish slavery, to end war, challenge militarism, and bring about a more peaceful world, to achieve racial equity, gender justice, and sexual liberation, and to secure the rights of workers. We take you to some well-known sites, but more often to ones far off the well-beaten path of the Freedom Trail, to places in Boston's outlying neighborhoods. We also visit sites in numerous other municipalities that make up the Greater Boston region-from places such as Lawrence, Lowell and Lynn to Concord and Plymouth. The sites to which we do 'travel' include homes given that people's struggles, activism, and organizing sometimes unfold, or are even birthed in many cases in living rooms and kitchens. Trying to capture a place as diverse and dynamic as Boston is highly challenging. (One could say that about any 'big' place.) We thus want to make clear that our goal is not to be comprehensive, or to 'do justice' to the region. Given the constraints of space and time as well as the limitations of knowledge--both our own and what is available in published form--there are many important sites, cities, and towns that we have not included. Thus, in exploring scores of sites across Boston and numerous municipalities, our modest goal is to paint a suggestive portrait of the greater urban area that highlights its long-contested nature. In many ways, we merely scratch the region's surface--or many surfaces--given the multiple layers that any one place embodies. In writing about Greater Boston as a place, we run the risk of suggesting that the city writ-large has some sort of essence. Indeed, the very notion of a particular place assumes intrinsic characteristics and an associated delimited space. After all, how can one distinguish one place from another if it has no uniqueness and is not geographically differentiated? Nonetheless, geographer Doreen Massey insists that we conceive of places as progressive, as flowing over the boundaries of any particular space, time, or society; in other words, we should see places as processual or ever-changing, as unbounded in that they shape and are shaped by other places and forces from without, and as having multiple identities. In exploring Greater Boston from many venues over 400 years, we embrace this approach. That said, we have to reconcile this with the need to delimit Greater Boston--for among other reasons, simply to be in a position to name it and thus distinguish it from elsewhere"--

Politics of locating Boston's Inner Belt freeway, with review of urban transportation planning and decisionmaking in U.S. cities.

Boston's iconic Freedom Trail® has long been the best way to discover the city's integral role in the dawn of American independence. Winding its way through Boston's Colonial-era streets,this legendary brick footpath includes sixteen nationally significant sites, among them theOld State House--an emblem of liberty for more than three hundred years--Faneuil Hall--known as the "cradle of liberty"--the distinguished Old North Church, and the formidableUSS Constitution. Now there is an extraordinary pop up book to commemorate the tour andthe birth of the nation.Bursting with incredible architectural detail, exquisite craftsmanship, and fascinating profilesof each landmark on the trail, the Freedom Trail Pop Up Book of Boston will delight readersof all ages whether they are from near or far. Author and creator Denise Price and the FreedomTrail Foundation invite you to watch the city's rich heritage come alive with each brightlyillustrated pop up--and to experience Boston history in an entirely new way.