The Boston Freedom Trail

A moving and informative guidebook and a keepsake worthy of coffee table d display, here is a fully illustrated guide to Boston’s historic Freedom Trail.

Through lyrical paragraphs and poignant black and white images, The Boston Freedom Trail reveals the essence of each site along the Freedom Trail, thereby allowing the reader to be moved and to connect more intimately with the splendor of liberty itself.

Said to be the soul of the city, Boston’s Freedom Trail embodies the remarkable and courageous spirit of America’s unyielding quest for Independence and makes Boston a popular and endearing tourist destination.

Beginning within the elegantly manicured grounds of Boston’s Common, this trail takes an estimated four million visitors a year on a fascinating 2.5-mile walk through its historic sites—sites enveloped within the city itself, and dotted with cafés, restaurants, bars, hotels, and commerce.

In this book, each of these sites, and each name associated with America’s independence, whispers endless stories and inspires great dreams. This city’s captivating past—and that of the entire American experience—can be discovered on each page, making it an absorbing and everlasting book, one dedicated to the absolute beauty and the luminous tradition of freedom.

Robert Wheeler fondly recalls time spent with his daughters along Boston’s Freedom Trail, from pushing a stroller, to walking hand-in-hand. The rich and fascinating stories evoked by each historic site, as well as the exceptional charm of Boston’s quaint city streets, shops, and restaurants, lured him back again and again, inspiring this sensory and absorbing book. Robert is also the author of Hemingway’s Paris: A Writer’s City in Words and Images and Hemingway’s Havana: A Reflection of the Writer’s Life in Cuba. He lives near the sea in New Castle, New Hampshire, with his wife, Meme.

Anna Solo is a photojournalist and documentary storyteller from New York City. Her work with both local and national publications lets her travel back home, but collaborating on this book has allowed her to expand the bounds of her photography. Immersed in the history of the Freedom Trail has led to images that allow the viewer to see into the past while being connected to the present. She enjoys all four New England seasons with her husband, Kenneth, and dog, Brooklyn, in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

"One will never again overlook the grand significance of historic Boston and its awe-inspiring Freedom Trail." 
—Jim Koch, Founder, Boston Beer Company

"A beautiful and immersive celebration of our city's rich history."
—Bill Taylor, Regional Vice President and General Manager, Four Seasons Hotel Boston

“This is an untypically worthy and comfortable read with scenery and prose telling unique tales of the literal path our country took to win its freedom. Plus, it tells us the origin of the Boston Cream Pie! I can’t imagine a free America without Boston Cream Pie.”
—Gary Tanguay, NBC Sports Boston

“The Boston Freedom Trail is the story of the very best in the struggles of America’s democracy. This extraordinary book shows its story and tells its beauty.”
—Lawrence Lessig, Roy L. Furman Professor of Law at Harvard Law School

"Some sites have the traditional, done-from-a-distance views, but most are surprisingly small and intimate looks at these famous places, perhaps just the head of a statue or the top of a church steeple or an unobtrusive corner of a building. Along with these photos, the author has given a couple-paragraph synopsis of the historical significance or description of the place . . . If you enjoy American history, you will find this book’s narrowly focused look at a small part of Boston to be a treasure. Perhaps you, too, will find the beating heart of your inner Bostonian." 
—Reading Fanatic Reviews

“This is an untypically worthy and comfortable read with scenery and prose telling unique tales of the literal path our country took to win its freedom. Plus, it tells us the origin of the Boston Cream Pie! I can’t imagine a free America without Boston Cream Pie.” —Gary Tanguay, NBC Sports Boston

“The Boston Freedom Trail is the story of the very best in the struggles of America’s democracy. This extraordinary book shows its story and tells its beauty.” —Lawrence Lessig, Roy L. Furman Professor of Law at Harvard Law School

“A beautiful and immersive celebration of our city’s rich history.” —Bill Taylor, Regional Vice President and General Manager, Four Seasons Hotel Boston