HUB History - Our Favorite Stories from Boston History

Daniel Dain is the author of an ambitious new history of Boston, called A History of Boston. A few years ago, a listener got in touch with the show to say that he was a lawyer by trade, but working on a manuscript on Boston history by night. When he shared the manuscript with me, I was shocked by it’s sweeping scope, and impressed when a bound copy found its way to my door earlier this year. A History of Boston blends his interest in urbanism and his deep love of Boston history to describe a series of boom and bust cycles in the longterm health and viability of Boston. I will ask him not only what has happened in Boston’s past but also what challenges and opportunities he sees on the horizon.

Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/288/

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When he’s not studying this city, Daniel Dain is the president and cofounder of the boutique lawfirm Dain Torpy, which specializes in real estate and development. You can also find Dan’s upcoming book events on the firm site. He sits on a number of boards, including the board of Vilna Shul, the historic immigrant synagogue on Beacon Hill that we recently featured on the show. He is a true Boston history nerd, and he’s an enthusiast of cities more broadly. Back in early 2021, he emailed me a draft of his manuscript about Boston history that he’d been working on for a couple of years.

We traded a series of favorite Boston history anecdotes over email. He said he liked the incident where the crew of the USS Constitution had to resort to kedging, or towing, the ship to outrun a British foe during a battle with no wind. I responded that I always chuckle over the time when Captain Stewart ordered the sails thrown aback, letting the wind catch the front edge of the sails and suddenly stopping the ship, but at the risk of shearing off the mainmast. I joked that it always reminded me of the scene in Top Gun when Maverick says, “I’m going to hit the brakes, he’ll fly right by” before dropping the flaps and letting Jester pass under his guns. Guess what?? He used it in the book, A History of Boston When my copy came in the mail Dan had helpfully flagged page 217 with a post-it to point out the footnote. magine my surprise when I got a package in the mail two years later with a bound copy of that manuscript. Dan had helpfully flagged page 217 with a post-it note. Calling me a Boston historian is a bit of a stretch, but those are his words, not mine.