Liberty is Sweet: The Hidden History of the American Revolution

779 pp. Holton describes the origins and crucial battles of the Revolution from Lexington and Concord to the British surrender at Yorktown, always focusing on marginalized Americans - enslaved Africans and African Americans, Native Americans, women, and dissenters - and on overlooked factors such as weather, North America's unique geography, chance, misperception, attempts to manipulate public opinion, and (most of all) disease. Thousands of enslaved Americans exploited the chaos of war to obtain their own freedom, while others were given away as enlistment bounties to whites. Women provided material support for the troops, sewing clothes for soldiers and in some cases taking part in the fighting. Both sides courted native people and mimicked their tactics. Liberty Is Sweet is a "must-read book for understanding the founding of our nation" (Walter Isaacson, author of Benjamin Franklin), from its origins on the frontiers and in the Atlantic ports to the creation of the Constitution. Offering surprises at every turn - for example, Holton makes a convincing case that Britain never had a chance of winning the war - this majestic history revivifies a story we thought we already knew.