Bagley is wry and witty . . . demonstrating superior deductive skills and rousing the public to see the value of their past around them.

City archaeologist Joseph Bagley has a special way of bringing Boston's evolution to life. In A History of Boston in 50 Objects, Bagley delivers a tangible take on our past through a collection of stunning portraits of things that have been unearthed here.

The author’s engaging writing style keeps the pages turning. For undergraduates, this book provides an introduction to archaeology's unfolding of history. Although not a scholarly work, it does contain notes and a useful bibliography and belongs in the collections of universities and colleges as well as public libraries. . . . Recommended.

This is a great book. Joe Bagley cuts through layers of the prevailing historical narrative to bring real people-and animals-back to life. A Massachusett hunting for deer on the Common, a child hiding a metal cop and robber toy in a yard outside an orphanage, a worshipper at a Beacon Hill synagogue, a horse pulling a Metropolitan Horse Railroad car out of a Roxbury station, a cat buried outside a Charlestown tavern-these are the characters of history. A skilled archaeologist, Bagley has unearthed many of these objects. But with the keen eye of a detective and the verve of a novelist, he has told their stories and the story of the city around them. Don’t read this book on the T-you will miss your stop!

In this highly readable and entertaining volume, Joseph Bagley introduces us to fifty key artifacts that once belonged to Boston’s original residents-native Americans, colonial settlers, and people of various ages, classes, races, and ethnic backgrounds. Bagley elicits their stories from the smallest of items that passed through their hands before coming to rest in the soils beneath contemporary Boston.