In the late 1700's, in a strip of colonies on the edge of Western civilization, a small group of individuals changed the world. Against overwhelming odds, they created a nation, defended an empire, and voiced ideals that inspire us to this day. In THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, historian T. J. Stiles tells that remarkable story through the words of those who lived it. Stiles, author of the award-winning JESSE JAMES: LAST REBEL OF THE CIVIL WAR, brings together contemporary letters, diaries, and essays that capture both the impassioned arguments and dramatic events. These first-person accounts, woven together with Stiles's own fast-moving narrative, provide a beginning-to-end history of the Revolution, from the first murmuring of dissent, to the roar of the battlefield, to the final dipomacy that concluded the War of Independence. (taken from the dust jacket).