Manufacturing Consent by Noam Chomsky and Edward S. Herman

Wait - what’s a book about modern media doing in a Revolutionary War library?

Everything.

Why This Book Matters for History

Chomsky and Herman explain how powerful institutions shape narratives to serve their interests. Sound familiar? That’s exactly what happened with Revolutionary-era propaganda.

Paul Revere’s Boston Massacre engraving? Manufacturing consent. The term “massacre” for what was essentially a riot? Manufacturing consent. The way the Tea Party became patriotic legend while ignoring the economic interests involved? Manufacturing consent.

The Framework

The authors present a “propaganda model” showing how media filters information through five lenses:

1. Ownership (who owns the media?)
2. Advertising (who pays for it?)
3. Sourcing (who do they quote as “experts”?)
4. Flak (who criticizes dissenting views?)
5. Ideology (what’s the accepted framework?)

Apply this to Revolutionary Boston and suddenly you see how the patriot narrative dominated, even though 1/3 of colonists were loyalists.

For Tour Guides

This book made me a better guide because it taught me to ask:

• Whose version of this event survived?
• Who had the power to shape the narrative?
• What perspectives were silenced or marginalized?
• How does the “official story” serve certain interests?

When I tell the Boston Massacre story now, I explain that we’re still using the patriots’ framing 250 years later. The British soldiers got a fair trial (defended by John Adams), but we still call it a “massacre.”

The Boston Connection

Colonial Boston was a master class in consent manufacturing:

• The Sons of Liberty controlled the narrative
• Loyalist presses were destroyed
• Committees of Correspondence spread patriot propaganda
• Town meetings amplified approved messages
• Dissenters faced social and economic consequences

Sound familiar?

Not a History Book

To be clear: this book is about 20th-century media, not the Revolution. But the principles are timeless. Understanding how narratives get constructed helps you understand ALL history better.

Perfect For

• Tour guides who want to think critically about narratives
• History buffs interested in historiography (how history gets written)
• People who like asking “says who?” about accepted truths
• Readers who want to understand propaganda (historical and modern)

The Challenge

This book can be depressing. Once you see how narratives are manufactured, you can’t unsee it. You’ll question everything. But for a tour guide? That’s exactly what you need.

Tour Guide’s Take

I reference Chomsky’s framework constantly. Not because I’m trying to be political on tours (I’m not), but because understanding propaganda makes historical events more interesting.

The Revolution wasn’t fought on battlefields alone - it was fought in newspapers, pamphlets, pulpits, and taverns. The patriots won partly because they controlled the narrative better than the British.

That’s a more interesting story than “colonists good, British bad.”

Rating: 5/5 - Changes how you see everything

Note: This will make you question all accepted narratives, including patriotic myths. Read it when you’re ready to have everything complicated.