Stephen Puleo Books in Order

Puleo reconstructs the 1919 disaster in Boston's North End, where a huge storage tank released a devastating wave of molasses. The narrative connects the flood and subsequent lawsuit with immigration, industrial power, and the social pressures of the era.

This history examines the sinking of the USS Eagle 56 near the end of World War II and the survivors' long struggle for recognition. Military records and interviews inform an investigation into what happened and how the Navy explained it.

Puleo traces Boston's Italian immigrant community from its early North End enclaves through later generations. The account examines poverty, prejudice, village loyalties, and the changes through which newcomers and their descendants built lives and an Italian-American identity.

This history follows Boston's transformation between 1850 and 1900 through abolitionism, immigration, technological innovation, and ambitious construction. The Back Bay project, the Great Fire, and the development of public transportation illustrate how the growing city reshaped itself.

Puleo recounts Congressman Preston Brooks's 1856 assault on abolitionist Senator Charles Sumner inside the Senate chamber. He explores the men's backgrounds and the national reaction, presenting the attack as a turning point in the conflict over slavery.

This history follows the creation and protection of America's founding documents, including the Declaration of Independence and Constitution. Wartime efforts to move them to safety reveal the people and decisions involved in preserving physical symbols of the nation's ideals.

In 1847, the USS Jamestown carried donated food from Boston to famine-stricken Ireland. Puleo recounts the voyage, the suffering it sought to relieve, and the contributions of ordinary Americans, examining an early landmark in the country's humanitarian efforts.

Charles Sumner fights slavery and champions equal rights through the Civil War and Reconstruction, often at great personal cost. This biography traces the senator’s influence on abolition and the arguments that shaped later struggles for racial equality.