1775

1775
Author: Kevin Phillips
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 657
Release: 2013-09-24
Genre: History
ISBN: 0143123998

A groundbreaking account of the American Revolution—from the bestselling author of American Dynasty In this major new work, iconoclastic historian and political chronicler Kevin Phillips upends the conventional reading of the American Revolution by debunking the myth that 1776 was the struggle’s watershed year. Focusing on the great battles and events of 1775, Phillips surveys the political climate, economic structures, and military preparations of the crucial year that was the harbinger of revolution, tackling the eighteenth century with the same skill and perception he has shown in analyzing contemporary politics and economics. The result is a dramatic account brimming with original insights about the country we eventually became.

Igniting the American Revolution

Igniting the American Revolution
Author: Derek W. Beck
Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc.
Total Pages: 384
Release: 2015-10-06
Genre: History
ISBN: 1492613967

"For those who like their history rich in vivid details, Derek Beck has served up a delicious brew in this book....This may soon become everyone's favorite." —Thomas Fleming, author of Liberty! The American Revolution A sweeping, provocative new look at the pivotal years leading up to the American Revolution The Revolutionary War did not begin with the Declaration of Independence, but several years earlier in 1773. In this gripping history, Derek W. Beck reveals the full story of the war before American independence—from both sides. Spanning the years 1773-1775 and drawing on new material from meticulous research and previously unpublished documents, letters, and diaries, Igniting the American Revolution sweeps readers from the rumblings that led to the Boston Tea Party to the halls of Parliament—where Ben Franklin was almost run out of England for pleading on behalf of the colonies—to that fateful Expedition to Concord which resulted in the shot heard round the world. With exquisite detail and keen insight, Beck brings revolutionary America to life in all its enthusiastic and fiery patriotic fervor, painting a nuanced portrait of the perspectives, ambitions, people, and events on both the British and the American sides that eventually would lead to the convention in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776. Captivating, provocative and inspiring, Igniting the American Revolution is the definitive history of these landmark years in our nation's history, whose events irrevocably altered the future not only of the United States and England, but the whole world. " Integrating compelling personalities with grand strategies, political maneuverings on both sides of the Atlantic, and vividly related incidents, Igniting the American Revolution pulls the reader into a world rending the British Empire asunder." – Samuel A. Forman, author of the biography Dr. Joseph Warren

The War Before Independence

The War Before Independence
Author: Derek W. Beck
Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc.
Total Pages: 385
Release: 2016-05-03
Genre: History
ISBN: 1492633100

The United States was creeping ever closer to independence. The shot heard round the world still echoed in the ears of Parliament as impassioned revolutionaries took up arms for and against King and country. In this captivating blend of careful research and rich narrative, Derek W. Beck continues his exploration into the period preceding the Declaration of Independence, just days into the new Revolutionary War. The War Before Independence transports readers into the violent years of 1775 and 1776, with the infamous Battle of Bunker Hill – a turning point in the Revolution – and the snowy, wind-swept march to the frozen ground at the Battle of Quebec, ending with the exciting conclusion of the Boston Campaign. Meticulous research and new material drawn from letters, diaries, and investigative research throws open the doors not only to familiar figures and faces, but also little-known triumphs and tribulations of America's greatest military leaders, including George Washington. Wonderfully detailed and stunningly layered, The War Before Independence brings America's early upheaval to a ferocious boil on both sides of the battlefield, and vividly captures the spirit of a fight that continues to inspire brave hearts today.

A Revolutionary People At War

A Revolutionary People At War
Author: Charles Royster
Publisher: UNC Press Books
Total Pages: 506
Release: 2011-02-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 0807899836

In this highly acclaimed book, Charles Royster explores the mental processes and emotional crises that Americans faced in their first national war. He ranges imaginatively outside the traditional techniques of analytical historical exposition to build his portrait of how individuals and a populace at large faced the Revolution and its implications. The book was originally published by UNC Press in 1980.

The British Are Coming

The British Are Coming
Author: Rick Atkinson
Publisher: Henry Holt and Company
Total Pages: 800
Release: 2019-05-14
Genre: History
ISBN: 1627790446

Winner of the George Washington Prize Winner of the Barbara and David Zalaznick Book Prize in American History Winner of the Excellence in American History Book Award Winner of the Fraunces Tavern Museum Book Award From the bestselling author of the Liberation Trilogy comes the extraordinary first volume of his new trilogy about the American Revolution Rick Atkinson, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning An Army at Dawn and two other superb books about World War II, has long been admired for his deeply researched, stunningly vivid narrative histories. Now he turns his attention to a new war, and in the initial volume of the Revolution Trilogy he recounts the first twenty-one months of America’s violent war for independence. From the battles at Lexington and Concord in spring 1775 to those at Trenton and Princeton in winter 1777, American militiamen and then the ragged Continental Army take on the world’s most formidable fighting force. It is a gripping saga alive with astonishing characters: Henry Knox, the former bookseller with an uncanny understanding of artillery; Nathanael Greene, the blue-eyed bumpkin who becomes a brilliant battle captain; Benjamin Franklin, the self-made man who proves to be the wiliest of diplomats; George Washington, the commander in chief who learns the difficult art of leadership when the war seems all but lost. The story is also told from the British perspective, making the mortal conflict between the redcoats and the rebels all the more compelling. Full of riveting details and untold stories, The British Are Coming is a tale of heroes and knaves, of sacrifice and blunder, of redemption and profound suffering. Rick Atkinson has given stirring new life to the first act of our country’s creation drama.

A Single Blow

A Single Blow
Author: Phillip S. Greenwalt
Publisher: Grub Street Publishers
Total Pages: 266
Release: 2017-07-19
Genre: History
ISBN: 1611213800

A concise history of the “shot heard round the world”—and the dramatic day that began America’s war for independence. Includes maps and photos. When shots were fired at Lexington and Concord on a spring day in 1775, few, if any, fully grasped the impact they would ultimately have on the world. This concise book offers not only a guide to the historical sites involved but a lively, readable history of the events, a culmination of years of unrest between those loyal to the British monarchy and those advocating for more autonomy and dreaming of independence from Great Britain. On the morning of April 19, Gen. Thomas Gage sent out a force of British soldiers under the command of Lt. Col. Francis Smith to confiscate, recapture, and destroy the military supplies gathered by the colonists and believed to be stored in the town of Concord. Due to the alacrity of men such as Dr. Joseph Warren, Paul Revere, and William Dawes, utilizing a network of signals and outriders, the countryside was well aware of the approaching British—setting the stage for the day’s events. From two historians, this is an outstanding introduction to a momentous battle, and the events that led up to it.

Engineers of Independence

Engineers of Independence
Author: Paul K. Walker
Publisher: The Minerva Group, Inc.
Total Pages: 424
Release: 2002-08
Genre: History
ISBN: 9781410201737

This collection of documents, including many previously unpublished, details the role of the Army engineers in the American Revolution. Lacking trained military engineers, the Americans relied heavily on foreign officers, mostly from France, for sorely needed technical assistance. Native Americans joined the foreign engineer officers to plan and carry out offensive and defensive operations, direct the erection of fortifications, map vital terrain, and lay out encampments. During the war Congress created the Corps of Engineers with three companies of engineer troops as well as a separate geographer's department to assist the engineers with mapping. Both General George Washington and Major General Louis Lebéque Duportail, his third and longest serving Chief Engineer, recognized the disadvantages of relying on foreign powers to fill the Army's crucial need for engineers. America, they contended, must train its own engineers for the future. Accordingly, at the war's end, they suggested maintaining a peacetime engineering establishment and creating a military academy. However, Congress rejected the proposals, and the Corps of Engineers and its companies of sappers and miners mustered out of service. Eleven years passed before Congress authorized a new establishment, the Corps of Artillerists and Engineers.

Atlas of the Battles and Campaigns of the American Revolution, 1775-1783

Atlas of the Battles and Campaigns of the American Revolution, 1775-1783
Author: David C. Bonk
Publisher: From Reason to Revolution
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2023-09-30
Genre: History
ISBN: 9781914059797

The Atlas of the Battles and Campaigns of the American Revolution includes over 120 full color maps showing troop dispositions and topography for both the major engagements of the conflict as well as many lesser-known but critical battles and skirmishes.

1774

1774
Author: Mary Beth Norton
Publisher: Vintage
Total Pages: 530
Release: 2021-02-09
Genre: History
ISBN: 0804172463

From one of our most acclaimed and original colonial historians, a groundbreaking book tracing the critical "long year" of 1774 and the revolutionary change that took place from the Boston Tea Party and the First Continental Congress to the Battles of Lexington and Concord. A WALL STREET JOURNAL BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR In this masterly work of history, the culmination of more than four decades of research and thought, Mary Beth Norton looks at the sixteen months leading up to the clashes at Lexington and Concord in mid-April 1775. This was the critical, and often overlooked, period when colonists traditionally loyal to King George III began their discordant “discussions” that led them to their acceptance of the inevitability of war against the British Empire. Drawing extensively on pamphlets, newspapers, and personal correspondence, Norton reconstructs colonial political discourse as it took place throughout 1774. Late in the year, conservatives mounted a vigorous campaign criticizing the First Continental Congress. But by then it was too late. In early 1775, colonial governors informed officials in London that they were unable to thwart the increasing power of local committees and their allied provincial congresses. Although the Declaration of Independence would not be formally adopted until July 1776, Americans had in effect “declared independence ” even before the outbreak of war in April 1775 by obeying the decrees of the provincial governments they had elected rather than colonial officials appointed by the king. Norton captures the tension and drama of this pivotal year and foundational moment in American history and brings it to life as no other historian has done before.