In 1731, Edward Cave invented a new print format, the magazine, which literally means ‘collection.’ Published monthly, The Gentlemen’s Magazine collected noteworthy articles from 15 London newspapers and 23 British Provincial papers. It also published chapters of books, commissioned articles, maps and engravings, as well as synthetic commentary upon important news. The magazine proved to be enormously popular in both Britain and her American colonies. Each year an index was compiled and printed together for a volume of the 12 monthly editions. One way to take the temperature of the American Crisis among English readers is to track the number of articles indexed to “America” or “American Troubles” in that index.  Notice that the first two political struggles of the American Crisis—the Stamp Act agitation and the resistance to the Townshend Acts—register significant upticks in coverage of the colonies, the “massacre” is virtually ignored, and the destruction of the tea in Boston caused a quantum leap in the intensity of the crisis. However, entrance of France into the American War led to a shift of attention away from “American Troubles.”