"Until 2004 and the publication of ""A Short History of Boston,"" there was no good short history of the city of Boston, not in print anyway. With economy and style, Dr. Robert Allison brings Boston history alive, from the Puritan theocracy of the seventeenth century to the Big Dig of the twenty-first. His book includes a wealth of illustrations, a lengthy chronology of the key events in four centuries of Boston history, and twenty short profiles of exceptional Bostonians, from founder John Winthrop to heavyweight champion John L. Sullivan, from ""heretic"" Anne Hutchinson to Russian-American author Mary Antin. Says the Provincetown Arts, ""A first-rate short history of the city, lavishly illustrated, lovingly written, and instantly the best book of its kind."" "

Robert J. Allison chairs Suffolk University's History Department, and also teaches at the Harvard Extension School. His works include: "Before 1776: Life in the American Colonies," The Teaching Company. Great Courses (2009), And free, on-line courses: The U.S. Constitution: A Biography (http: //www.udemy.com/us-constitution/). History of Boston (live in October 2014): (http: //www.historyofboston.org) He is president of the South Boston Historical Society, vice president of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts.