Tales from a Revolution

Tales from a Revolution
Author: James D. Rice
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 276
Release: 2012
Genre: History
ISBN: 0195386957

In the spring of 1676, Nathaniel Bacon, a hotheaded young newcomer to Virginia, led a revolt against the colony's Indian policies. Bacon's Rebellion turned into a civil war within Virginia--and a war of extermination against the colony's Indian allies--that lasted into the following winter, sending shock waves throughout the British colonies and into England itself. James Rice offers a colorfully detailed account of the rebellion, revealing how Piscataways, English planters, slave traders, Susquehannocks, colonial officials, plunderers and intriguers were all pulled into an escalating conflict whose outcome, month by month, remained uncertain. In Rice's rich narrative, the lead characters come to life: the powerful, charismatic Governor Berkeley, the sorrowful Susquehannock warrior Monges, the wiley Indian trader and tobacco planter William Byrd, the regal Pamunkey chieftain Cockacoeske, and the rebel leader himself, Nathaniel Bacon. The dark, slender Bacon, born into a prominent family, soon earned a reputation in America as imperious, ambitious, and arrogant. But the colonial leaders did not foresee how rash and headstrong Nathaniel Bacon could be, nor how adept he would prove to be at both inciting colonists and alienating Indians. As the tense drama unfolds, it becomes apparent that the struggle between Governor Berkeley and the impetuous Bacon is nothing less than a battle over the soul of America. Bacon died in the midst of the uprising and Governor Berkeley shortly afterwards, but the profoundly important issues at the heart of the rebellion took another generation to resolve. The late seventeenth century was a pivotal moment in American history, full of upheavals and far-flung conspiracies. Tales From a Revolution brilliantly captures the swirling rumors and central events of Bacon's Rebellion and its aftermath, weaving them into a dramatic tale that is part of the founding story of America.

Three Peoples, One King

Three Peoples, One King
Author: Jim Piecuch
Publisher: Univ of South Carolina Press
Total Pages: 611
Release: 2013-02-28
Genre: History
ISBN: 1611171938

This study explores the lives of Southern whites, Blacks, and Native Americans who stood with the British during the American Revolution. Challenging the traditional view that British efforts in the south were undermined by a lack of local support, Jim Piecuch demonstrates the breadth of loyal assistance provided by these three groups in South Carolina, Georgia, and East and West Florida. Piecuch shows that the Crown’s southern campaign failed due to the revolutionary force’s violent suppression of these Loyalists and Britain’s inability to capitalize on their support. Covering the period from 1775 to 1782, Piecuch surveys the roles of Loyalists, Indians, and slaves across the southernmost colonies to illustrate the investments each had in allying with the British and the high price they paid during and after the war. Piecuch investigates each group, making new discoveries in the histories of escaped or liberated slaves, of still-powerful Indian tribes, and of the bitter legacies of white loyalism. He then employs an integrated approach that advances our understanding of Britain’s long hold on the South and the hardships experienced by those groups who were in varying degrees abandoned by the Crown in defeat.

King George: What Was His Problem?

King George: What Was His Problem?
Author: Steve Sheinkin
Publisher: Flash Point
Total Pages: 243
Release: 2009-07-07
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 1429931582

New York Times bestselling author and Newbery Honor recipient Steve Sheinkin gives young readers an American history lesson they'll never forget in the fun and funny King George: What Was His Problem?: Everything Your Schoolbooks Didn't Tell You About the American Revolution, featuring illustrations by Tim Robinson. A Bank Street Best Children’s Book of the Year A New York Public Library 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing What do the most famous traitor in history, hundreds of naked soldiers, and a salmon lunch have in common? They’re all part of the amazing story of the American Revolution. Entire books have been written about the causes of the American Revolution. This isn't one of them. What it is, instead, is utterly interesting, ancedotes (John Hancock fixates on salmon), from the inside out (at the Battle of Eutaw Springs, hundreds of soldiers plunged into battle "naked as they were born") close-up narratives filled with little-known details, lots of quotes that capture the spirit and voices of the principals ("If need be, I will raise one thousand men, subsist them at my own expense, and march myself at their head for the relief of Boston" --George Washington), and action. It's the story of the birth of our nation, complete with soldiers, spies, salmon sandwiches, and real facts you can't help but want to tell to everyone you know. “For middle-graders who find Joy Hakim’s 11-volume A History of US just too daunting, historian Sheinkin offers a more digestible version of our country’s story...The author expertly combines individual stories with sweeping looks at the larger picture—tucking in extracts from letters, memorable anecdotes, pithy characterizations and famous lines with a liberal hand.”—Kirkus Reviews Also by Steve Sheinkin: Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World's Most Dangerous Weapon The Notorious Benedict Arnold: A True Story of Adventure, Heroism & Treachery The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights Undefeated: Jim Thorpe and the Carlisle Indian School Football Team Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War Which Way to the Wild West?: Everything Your Schoolbooks Didn't Tell You About Westward Expansion Two Miserable Presidents: Everything Your Schoolbooks Didn't Tell You About the Civil War Born to Fly: The First Women's Air Race Across America

Henry and the Cannons

Henry and the Cannons
Author: Don Brown
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Total Pages: 36
Release: 2013-01-22
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 1466830131

Before Washington crossed the Delaware, Henry Knox crossed Massachusetts in winter—with 59 cannons in tow. In 1775 in the dead of winter, a bookseller named Henry Knox dragged 59 cannons from Fort Ticonderoga to Boston—225 miles of lakes, forest, mountains, and few roads. It was a feat of remarkable ingenuity and determination and one of the most remarkable stories of the revolutionary war. In Henry and the Cannons the perils and adventure of his journey come to life through Don Brown's vivid and evocative artwork.

Revolution Song: The Story of America's Founding in Six Remarkable Lives

Revolution Song: The Story of America's Founding in Six Remarkable Lives
Author: Russell Shorto
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Total Pages: 687
Release: 2017-11-07
Genre: History
ISBN: 0393245551

“An engaging piece of historical detective work and narrative craft.” —Chicago Tribune At a time when America’s founding principles are being debated as never before, Russell Shorto looks back to the era in which those principles were forged. In Revolution Song, Shorto weaves the lives of six people into a seamless narrative that casts fresh light on the range of experience in colonial America on the cusp of revolution. The result is a brilliant defense of American values with a compelling message: the American Revolution is still being fought today, and its ideals are worth defending.

Sam the Minuteman

Sam the Minuteman
Author: Nathaniel Benchley
Publisher: HarperCollins
Total Pages: 67
Release: 2020-11-24
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0062035428

In this exciting classic early reader, Nathaniel Benchly re-creates what it must have been like for a young boy to fight in the Battle of Lexington. Arnold Lobel's vivid pictures give a poignant reality to the famous battle that marked the beginning of the American Revolution. This is historical fiction that pulls in young readers in first and second grade, even reluctant readers. Great for home or classroom units on and discussions about colonial America and the start of the American Revolution. "Benchley's expressive words and Lobel's vivid drawings portray a realistic story," Publishers Weekly wrote. Father and son rushed to the village green. Other Minutemen were already there. Through the long night they waited and waited. Then, at dawn, the soldiers came!

Bunker Hill

Bunker Hill
Author: Nathaniel Philbrick
Publisher: Random House
Total Pages: 539
Release: 2013-05-23
Genre: History
ISBN: 1446463052

What lights the spark that ignites a revolution? What was it that, in 1775, provoked a group of merchants, farmers, artisans and mariners in the American colonies to unite and take up arms against the British government in pursuit of liberty? Nathaniel Philbrick, the acclaimed historian and bestselling author of In the Heart of the Sea and The Last Stand, shines new and brilliant light on the momentous beginnings of the American Revolution, and those individuals – familiar and unknown, and from both sides – who played such a vital part in the early days of the conflict that would culminate in the defining Battle of Bunker Hill. Written with passion and insight, even-handedness and the eloquence of a born storyteller, Bunker Hill brings to life the robust, chaotic and blisteringly real origins of America.

Revolutionary Mothers

Revolutionary Mothers
Author: Carol Berkin
Publisher: Vintage
Total Pages: 226
Release: 2007-12-18
Genre: History
ISBN: 0307427498

A groundbreaking history of the American Revolution that “vividly recounts Colonial women’s struggles for independence—for their nation and, sometimes, for themselves.... [Her] lively book reclaims a vital part of our political legacy" (Los Angeles Times Book Review). The American Revolution was a home-front war that brought scarcity, bloodshed, and danger into the life of every American. In this book, Carol Berkin shows us how women played a vital role throughout the conflict. The women of the Revolution were most active at home, organizing boycotts of British goods, raising funds for the fledgling nation, and managing the family business while struggling to maintain a modicum of normalcy as husbands, brothers and fathers died. Yet Berkin also reveals that it was not just the men who fought on the front lines, as in the story of Margaret Corbin, who was crippled for life when she took her husband’s place beside a cannon at Fort Monmouth. This incisive and comprehensive history illuminates a fascinating and unknown side of the struggle for American independence.

George Vs. George

George Vs. George
Author: Rosalyn Schanzer
Publisher: National Geographic Books
Total Pages: 68
Release: 2007
Genre: History
ISBN: 9781426300424

Explores how the characters and lives of King George III of England and George Washington affected the progress and outcome of the American Revolution.