Boston Manor House Events Look at How We Lost America
Book launch and play reading give new insights on independence
The house is to host a staged reading of Jefferson & Adams
October 28, 2026
Two major American-history events are taking place at Boston Manor House his November, beginning with the launch of How We Lost America: A New Perspective on American Independence on Tuesday 10 November, followed by a staged reading of Jefferson & Adams on Thursday 26 November. Both events form part of a wider programme marking the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
The book launch on 10 November will introduce How We Lost America, a new collection that re-examines the events leading up to the American War of Independence and its aftermath. Drawing on contributions from historians, journalists and artists, the book uncovers hidden histories of underrepresented individuals whose experiences shaped the democratic ideas that emerged from the conflict. The event will be hosted by three of the book’s contributors. Leanne O’Boyle, historian, broadcaster and Founding Director of Thomas Paine: Legacy, will discuss her chapter on Thomas Paine, the British radical whose writings helped ignite revolutionary sentiment. Dr Tom Cutterham, who teaches the history of the United States and the British Atlantic world at the University of Birmingham, will explore the British supporters of American independence. Becca Palmer, a postdoctoral researcher at the London School of Economics, will speak about the role of print culture in spreading revolutionary ideas. The book also includes contributions from Dr Jon Chandler, Sarah Tucker and John U. Rees, as well as interviews with artists Selena Scott and Sejel Bodereau. It was introduced by Amie Brian and edited by Mark Gunn. Book tickets here.
Later in the month, on 26 November, Boston Manor House will host a reading of Jefferson & Adams, Howard Ginsberg’s moving and powerful dramatisation of the remarkable and turbulent friendship between Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. The play spans fifty years of their relationship, beginning in the early days of the Republic, continuing through two wars with England, and following the pair into their vigorous retirement. Their debates over foreign entanglements, domestic politics and the proper role of the federal government remain strikingly relevant today. Abigail Adams plays a central role throughout, acting as a perceptive catalyst and moral anchor as the men’s friendship ignites, flourishes, ruptures and ultimately resolves itself. First produced in 1995 at the Leatherstocking Theatre Company in Cooperstown, New York, the play has since been performed annually at major American heritage sites including Colonial Williamsburg, Monticello, Poplar Forest and Adams National Historical Park. Ginsberg, formerly a psychoanalytic psychotherapist, brings a distinctive psychological insight to his historical subjects, and his work has explored figures ranging from Matisse and Virginia Woolf to Adolf Hitler’s financier. His play Murder in Paris was performed on BBC Radio 4 in 1998, starring Alan Bates. Book tickets here.
Aurora Metro Books and Aurora Metro Arts & Media are hosting the events. Aurora Metro Publications, led by owner-publisher Cheryl Robson, is one of London’s most established independent presses, with more than 300 titles in print and a stable of imprints including Supernova Books, Amber Lane Press and River Light Press. Aurora Metro Arts & Media, its sister organisation, is a not-for-profit arts and education company that has championed diversity and equality through theatre, film, exhibitions, talks, workshops and books for more than thirty years.
Both events take place at Boston Manor House, Boston Manor Road, Brentford TW8 9JX. The book launch will run from 7pm to 9pm on 10 November, and the play reading from 7pm to 9.30pm on 26 November.
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