Johns Adams fact and fiction

Writer of HBO's recent (and excellent) John Adams considers what parts of the historical record they changed, and why. (TNR: "One for the Books")

A screenwriter always seeks economy in storytelling. Of course I knew that there were two Boston Massacre trials, not one. But the audience would not have thanked us for devoting the whole of the first episode to an examination of courtroom procedure, with two separate verdicts rendered. The key dramatic points are Adams's decision to defend Captain Preston and his soldiers, and his success at exonerating them on the charge of murder. Both points are "factual." Has there been some manipulation involved in the dramatization? Absolutely. But the outcome of the proceedings has not been altered.

Other examples are more suspect. But the general point remains, and in any case it's an interesting thing to present to students as a thought piece on how to write and present history.