Allen French

Born in Boston on November 28, 1870, Allen French was an American author, historian, and antiquarian who spent much of his life in Concord, Massachusetts. He studied at MIT, the University of Berlin, and Harvard, then went on to teach English at both Harvard and MIT before building a wide-ranging writing career.

French wrote prolifically across several genres. He produced juvenile stories, historical fiction, books connected with Icelandic history, gardening works, and studies of Concord, colonial New England, and the Revolutionary era. Among the historical titles associated with him are The Siege of Boston, Old Concord, The Day of Concord and Lexington, A British Fusilier in Revolutionary Boston, and The First Year of the American Revolution.

He was also deeply involved in Concord civic and cultural life, serving with the Concord Free Public Library, the Concord Antiquarian Society, and the Thoreau Society. French died at his home in Concord on October 6, 1946, leaving behind a body of work that joined a storyteller’s energy with a historian’s patience.