[Lindsay 23] John the Painter: Terrorist of the American Revolution by Jessica Warner

I had never even heard of John the Painter when I first encountered this book, so between that and my general interest in American Revolutionary history, it seemed like a worthwhile purchase. (Plus I got it half price at one of those warehouse/bargain bookstores.) James Aitken, a.k.a. John the Painter, isn't one of the more notable figures of Revolutionary history, and not much has been written about him. He was a Scot sympathetic to the American cause during the Revolution who attempted to cripple the British navy by burning down five major dockyards across England. Ultimately, he failed in this venture, and was captured and sentenced to hanging. Despite his unremarkableness, I found myself fascinated by his story and Warner's commentary on it.

I really appreciate the way Warner pieces this book together. There aren't many written sources on Aitken other than his court testimony and records of his last days before being hanged, so she had to be creative in order to give a fuller account of his whole life. The book covers Aitken's birth to his death, but his childhood in particular isn't terribly well documented. Warner uses accounts written by other people not necessarily tied to Aitken at all to describe his early life, from the conditions of his home, to his time at school, to the more general experience of growing up in Edinburgh at the time. Warner is careful, however, to make it very clear when she is relaying first-hand documentation versus this second-hand piecing, and because of that it makes it easier to just roll with it and enjoy the narrative.