The famous battles thought to be the backbone of American independence—at Lexington and Concord, Brandywine, Germantown, Saratoga, and Monmouth—while crucial, did not lead to the surrender at Yorktown. It was in the three-plus years between Monmouth and Yorktown that the war was won. Hear from historians Alan Pell Crawford and Joseph J. Ellis about this overlooked story. 

Alan Pell Crawford’s riveting new book, This Fierce People, tells the story of years long ignored by historians—the fierce battles fought in the South that made up the central theater of military operations in the latter years of the Revolutionary War. Weaving together the stories of the heroic men and women, largely unsung patriots—African Americans and whites, militiamen and “irregulars,” patriots and Tories, Americans, Frenchmen, Brits, and Hessians--Crawford reveals the misperceptions and contradictions of our accepted understanding of how our nation came to be, as well as the national narrative that America’s victory over the British lay solely with General George Washington and his troops. This groundbreaking, important recovery of history brings to life the southern campaign and upends the essential American myth that the War of Independence was fought primarily in the North. With historian Joseph J. Ellis, Crawford will also discuss how these battles between loyalists to the Crown and patriots were, in fact, America’s first civil war.

Alan Pell Crawford is the author of acclaimed works of history including Twilight at Monticello. His writing has appeared in American History, The Washington Post, and The New York Times. His book reviews appear regularly in The Wall Street Journal. He lives in Richmond, Virginia.

Joseph J. Ellis is the author of many works of American history including Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation, which was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, and American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson, which won the National Book Award. He lives in Amherst, Massachusetts.