T. H. Breen is John Kluge Professor of American Law and Governance at the Library of Congress and Founding Director of the Chabraja Center for Historical Studies at Northwestern University. A former Guggenheim Fellow, he has taught American history at Oxford, Cambridge, and Yale universities and is James Marsh Professor-at-Large at the University of Vermont. He is the author of many books, including George Washington’s Journey, winner of the History Prize of the Society of the Cincinnati and finalist for the George Washington Book Prize; and Marketplace of Revolution, winner of the Society of Colonial Wars Book Award. He is a frequent contributor to the New York Review of Books and Times Literary Supplement.
The ‘revolution’ that concerns T. H. Breen…was not led by John
Adams, Thomas Jefferson and George Washington. Rather, Breen argues
convincingly, it was conducted by thousands, even hundreds of
thousands, of ordinary (future) Americans in towns and villages
often far from the fighting…[An] elegantly written book.
*Times Literary Supplement*
Looks closely at the struggle for American independence and asks
what made the American revolutionary experience so different.
*Wall Street Journal*
Powerful and important…Breen shows that the revolution offered
opportunities for self-government and popular decision making that
led to a dramatic change in political consciousness…Political
passions and the experience of ‘ordinary people’ help explain why
America’s revolution ended differently—and more successfully—than
other modern revolutions.
*New Rambler*
An examination of the effects of the American Revolution on
ordinary people, with some anxious glances at our political
divisions today…Breen wonders if, in our current era, we will be
able to employ the essential lessons about unity that he has
extracted from the past…Enlightening, revolutionary thinking.
*Kirkus Reviews*
Tells a new story about the American Revolution, one mostly left in
the deep shade of the Founding Fathers’ towering shadows. Eschewing
the standard histories of the Revolution that place primary
importance upon its political theories and legal reasoning, Breen
revises this overdone focus to highlight the ‘true sites of
resistance’—the small communities across the fledgling nation who
daily sustained the fight for independence…Extremely well-paced and
engaging.
*Open Letters Review*
Breen has done an outstanding job of closing the loop on telling
the untapped history of the average American’s role in deciding to
throw off British rule and establish a new country.
*New York Journal of Books*
Brings to the forefront the memories of those underappreciated
Americans who made difficult decisions, crafted plans, and
committed to sacrifices for the common good during the
Revolutionary era…Original and enlightening.
*Journal of the American Revolution*
The American Revolution involved not simply the wisdom of a few
great men but, more important, the passions, fears, and religiosity
of ordinary people. This is the sensible point of this important
and lucidly written book.
*Gordon S. Wood, author of Friends Divided: John Adams and
Thomas Jefferson*
Is it possible to have popular government without popular excess?
In asking that very timely question, Breen ingeniously demonstrates
what the un-excessive American Revolution was able to
accomplish—and what it was unable to complete. Revolutions continue
today; today’s revolutionaries would learn a great deal from this
masterful study.
*Joyce E. Chaplin, Harvard University*
A provocative and timely contribution to our understanding of the
American Revolution. Breen shows us a nation-making war that
channeled political passions in surprisingly constructive,
stabilizing ways. The Will of the People deserves the widest
possible audience.
*Peter S. Onuf, University of Virginia*
The American Revolution was made not just on the battlefields, in
the halls of power, or in the minds of intellectuals, T. H. Breen
argues in this elegant and persuasive work. Communities of ordinary
men and women—farmers, workers, and artisans who kept the
revolutionary faith until victory over the British forces was
achieved—were essential to the effort. The Will of the People
deftly brings their perspectives and contributions into full
view.
*Annette Gordon-Reed, Harvard University*
Ordinary people, Breen reminds us, were the Revolution’s true
heroes. These men and women made America’s birth possible, and this
marvelous book reminds us that it is their example that keeps the
Revolution alive today.
*Eliga Gould, author of Among the Powers of the Earth: The
American Revolution and the Making of a New World Empire*
Breen has written a study of the American Revolution unlike any
other. He recovers the lost world of revolutionaries, allowing
readers to witness one of history’s most momentous events, ordinary
Americans, animated by hope and fear, founding a nation. This is a
book crafted by a master historian writing at the top of his
game.
*Patrick Griffin, University of Notre Dame*
There is no single story of the American Revolution, Breen argues
crisply and persuasively. While not dismissing the essential
contributions of the Founders, he insists we cannot fully
understand how the revolution succeeded until we are also attentive
to the emotional discourse of ordinary people from small
communities and port towns from which a lasting political culture
took shape.
*Barbara Oberg, Editor Emeritus, Papers of Thomas Jefferson,
Princeton University*
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