Describes what life was like for colonists during the American Revolution, discussing the differences between patriots and Loyalists, how soldiers were managed, and the role of women during the conflict.

In this life of painter John Singleton Copley, award-winning Harvard historian Jane Kamensky masterfully untangles the web of principles and interests that shaped the age of America's revolution. Copley's prodigious talent earned him the patronage of Boston's patriot leaders, including Samuel Adams and Paul Revere. But the artist did not share their politics, and painting portraits failed to satisfy his lofty artistic goals. An ambitious British subject...

Using excerpts from diaries, letters, newspaper articles, and other primary sources, tells of the everyday lives of the soldiers who fought the Revolutionary War, for both the British and for the colonies.

"A rising-star historian offers a significant new global perspective on the Revolutionary War with the story of the conflict as seen through the eyes of the outsiders of colonial society. Over the last decade, award-winning historian Kathleen DuVal has revitalized the study of early America's marginalized voices. Now, in Independence Lost, she recounts an untold story as rich and significant as that of the Founding Fathers : the history of the Revolutionary...

What causes people to forsake their country and take arms against it? George Washington in the 1770s stood at the apex of Virginia society. Benjamin Franklin was more successful still, having risen from humble origins to world fame. John Adams revered the law. Yet all three men became rebels against the British Empire that fostered their success. Others in the same circle of family and friends chose differently-- and soon heard themselves denounced...

Discusses the training, organization, diversity, fighting and survival skills, daily routine, diseases, fears, and morale of the first army of the United States.