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PAUL REVERE: THE MIDNIGHT RIDER (A&E Television Networks, $19.95)

This in-depth video presentation recounts the life of Paul Revere (1735-1818)–patriot, silversmith, courier, and military leader. Historical reenactments; interviews with noted historians; documentary source material, including Revere’s writings; period artworks; and modern-day photographs of Boston are employed to recreate the life of the legendary Revolutionary War hero from his early days as an apprentice in his father’s goldsmith shop in Boston, to his successful life as an industrialist following the American colonies’ successful struggle for independence from Great Britain. The film details Revere’s involvement in that conflict, highlighting his membership inthe Sons of Liberty; his active participation as an organizer of the 1773 Boston Tea Party; the economic circumstances that led him to become an express rider for Boston’s Committee of Safety; his famous ride to Lexington on April 18, 1775;and his court-martial, and subsequent acquittal, for his conduct during the failed1779 Penobscot Bay expedition.