A History of Boston
By Dain Torpy’s co-founder and President, Daniel Dain with contemporary photography by Peter Vanderwarker
Boston is today one of the world’s greatest cities, first in higher education, hospitals, life science companies, and sports teams. It was the home of the Great Puritan Migration, the American Revolution, the Industrial Revolution, the first civil rights movement, the abolition movement, and the women’s rights movement. But the city that gave us the first use of ether as anesthesia, the telephone, technicolor film, and the mutual fund—the city where Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott founded their world-changing partnership—was also the hub of the anti-immigration movement, the divisive busing era, and decades of self-inflicted decay. Boston has the most important history of any American city. Yet its history has never been given a comprehensive treatment until now. Join Dan Dain as he acts as your tour guide from the arrival of First Peoples up to the election of Boston’s first woman and person of color as mayor. Dain’s masterful work explores the policies and practices that took Boston from its highest heights to its lowest lows and back again, and examines the central role that density, diversity, and good urban design play in the success of cities like Boston.
The book is available in bookstores across Greater Boston and on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Bookshop.org.
Upcoming Events
- There are no upcoming events.
- There are no upcoming events.
Latest Past Events
A History of Boston Sports Teams
Needham High School: Classroom Wing 609 Webster Street, NeedhamTune In
Writer’s Block: Daniel Dain
Needham Channel, Hosted by Matt Robinson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sgfu4BY5TNo
A History of Boston, Daniel Dain
New Books Network, Hosted by Caleb Zakarin
https://newbooksnetwork.com/a-history-of-boston
Beneath the Cobblestones: Bostons Rich History with Betsy Wurzel from Passionate World Talk Radio Network
https://passionateworldtalkradio.com/beneath-the-cobblestones-bostons-rich-history/
A History of Boston, with Daniel Dain (episode 288) with HUB History
A History of Boston, with Daniel Dain (episode 288) – HUB History: Boston history podcast
Speaking of Writers by Steve Richards
https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/steve-richards/episodes/Daniel-Dain–A-History-of-Boston-e2c4iig
What Boston’s 400-year history can tell us about today by Amanda Beland and Tiziana Dearing
https://www.wbur.org/radioboston/2023/10/25/boston-history-400-years-book
Monday Night Talk 959FM WATD – September 2, 2023 Radio Show with Kevin Tocci
https://mondaynighttalk.podbean.com/e/monday-night-talk-959fm-watd-september-4-2023-radio-show/
LIVE Friday Night Stream with Special Guest Dan Dain Talking About the History of Boston! with Steve Lookner
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aMmUOLEOFM
MS- Boston WGTD Morning Show
https://www.wgtd.org/playlist/morning-show/ms-boston
9/14/23 Emails From Hell with Ron Van Dam Radio
https://ronvandam.podbean.com/e/91423-emails-from-hell/
Reviews and Other Press
The Beacon Hill Times
Daniel Dain, founder and president of the law firm, Dain Torpy, discussed his book, “A History of Boston,” during a January 25 West End Museum (WEM) presentation at The Hub on Causeway Community Room. Dain explained how density, diversity, and urban design influenced the prosperity of Boston from the arrival of the first people to the election of the first, female and person of color as mayor. [Read More…]
Midwest Book Review
A History of Boston … is impressively researched, detailed, documented, and informative, as well as thoroughly ‘reader friendly’ in both organization and presentation by Daniel Dain. While an extraordinary and unreservedly recommended addition to personal, professional, community, college, and university library American History collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists, it should be noted for students, academia, historians, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject. [Read More…]
Contrarian Boston
Welcome to Boston, the city that reinvents itself every century or so. That’s one takeaway from a magnificent and masterful book on the history of Boston written by Dan Dain, a top commercial real estate lawyer by day, author at night. But the book also offers a warning: Boston’s current success is not cast in stone, having followed nearly a century of stagnation and malaise. [Read More…]
Good Reads
It’s everything under the sun about Boston that can fit in a book … [I]f you are a Boston fanatic then you will love it. [Read More…]
Banker & Tradesman
In his newly published book, “A History of Boston,” longtime Boston real estate attorney Dan Dain lays out a blueprint for the city’s future. His book takes the reader on a journey through Boston’s history, from its origins to the election of the first woman mayor of color. [Read More…]
Needham Observer
Daniel Dain’s expertise in land use and urban design was an organizing principle in his book, “A History of Boston.” He offered observations on what makes a city successful and considerations for suburban towns like Needham, especially as it prepares to review its land use policies in light of the MBTA Communities Law. [Read More…]
Readers’ Comments
Dain’s A History of Boston lays out a blueprint for cities wanting to thrive in the 21st century through diversity, density, and good urban design. The deep analysis of one of America’s oldest cities provides insights for all cities looking for a road map forward.
—MALIA LAZU, founder, The Urban Labs and MIT lecturer
Dan Dain’s A History of Boston arrives at a critical moment when cities like Boston contemplate their future in the post-pandemic era of hybrid and remote work. Dain offers up a compendium that spans both old and new Boston, reminding us how urban centers with staying power are hardly static. They rise and they fall, and whether they rise again depends on their ability to adapt to changing times.
—SHIRLEY LEUNG, Boston Globe columnist and associate editor:
Dain’s massive volume regarding Boston history merits a comfortable chair, a glass of wine, and a good reading light.
—LAWRENCE S. DICARA, former president of the Boston City Council, mayoral candidate, and author of Turmoil and Transition in Boston: A Political Memoir from the Busing Era
Dain’s A History of Boston helps the reader understand how land-use and environment contribute to shaping a community. Dain’s Boston is the go-to book.
—R.J. LYMAN, former director of the Mass. Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) Office and chair of Governor Bill Weld’s presidential campaign
For those who want to truly understand this city and its past, Dain’s book is indispensable.
—ANDREW LELLING, former United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts and Boston Globe Magazine Bostonian of the Year in 2019