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From the Mayflower to the Moon (and Back Again)

From the Mayflower to the Moon (and Back Again): Paul Revere's Midnight Ride

Paul Revere's Midnight Ride

BBC Radio 4 - From the Mayflower to the Moon (and Back Again), Paul Revere's Midnight Ride

"Listen my children and you shall hear of the midnight ride of Paul Revere"

A 400-year journey into the creation of the United States with writer Joe Queenan.

Paul Revere was the Boston silversmith who rode just over 12 miles to warn the rebels that the British were coming. The year was 1775, the eve of the American Revolution. Over eight decades later Henry Longfellow wrote the poem that made Revere an immortal. Paul Revere's Ride is a famous part of the national tale, but, as Joe Queenan points out,  Longfellow famously left out the other men who rode with Revere because: 
a) history works better when it's simple
b) Longfellow couldn't find rhymes for their more complicated names.

Presented by the satirist Joe Queenan, with archive contributions from Carole Berkin and Andrew Sachs reading Paul Revere's Ride.

The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde

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A 400-year journey into the creation of the United States with the writer Joe Queenan.

Ten journeys that built the United States between the landing of the Mayflower in 1620 and the men who went to the Moon.

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