This work is the most authoritative and wide-ranging encyclopedia on the American Revolution ever created for a student audience.

With more than 1,300 cross-referenced entries covering every aspect of the American Revolution, this definitive scholarly reference covers the causes, course, and consequences of the war and the political, social, and military origins of the nation. This authoritative and complete encyclopedia covers not only the eight years of the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783) but also the decades leading up to the war, beginning with the French and Indian War, and the aftermath of the conflict, with an emphasis on the early American Republic. Volumes one through four contain a series of overview essays on the causes, course, and consequences of the American Revolution, followed by impeccably researched A–Z entries that address the full spectrum of political, social, and military matters that arose from the conflict. Each entry is cross-referenced to other entries and also lists books for further reading. In addition, there is a detailed bibliography, timeline, and glossary. A fifth volume is devoted to primary sources, each of which is accompanied by an insightful introduction that places the document in its proper historical context. The primary sources help readers to understand the myriad motivations behind the American Revolution; the diplomatic, military, and political maneuvering that took place during the conflict; and landmark documents that shaped the founding and early development of the United States.

In the tradition of the preceding volumes - the first of which was published in 1964 - this work synthesizes edited documents, including correspondence, ship logs, muster rolls, orders, and newspaper accounts, that provide a comprehensive understanding of the war at sea in the spring of 1778. The editors organize this wide array of texts chronologically by theater and incorporate French, Italian, and Spanish transcriptions with English translations throughout.

"Wars don't unfold event-by-event or even battle-by-battle. They unfold day-by-day. Activities are underway simultaneously across the theater of operations, some significant and some minor, but their sum shows how the war progresses. Pyne's book [The War of the American Revolution: Day by Day] portrays that reality for the American Revolutionary War-progress in time as the participants would have experienced it."-Dave R. Palmer, Lieutenant General (USA, Ret.), author, television presenter, former superintendent of the United States Military Academy (USMA). "The War of the American Revolution: Day by Day, compiled by Frederick W. Pyne, will make a substantial contribution to the literature on the War of Independence. It will be of use to scholars, but it should find an especially receptive audience among general readers with an interest in the Revolutionary War. Readers will have a veritable encyclopedia of the war in their hands. They can consult this treasure trove of information to discover what occurred on any given day between the outbreak of the war at Lexington-Concord in April 1775 and General Washington's retirement to Mount Vernon near the end of 1783. Readers will also be able to see the ebb and flow of the war. As with no other book, readers will be aware of just how long this war must have seemed to contemporaries. Finally, readers will grasp that this was an extremely difficult war and that victory was elusive until literally the last moment."-John Ferling, professor, author of Almost a Miracle: The American Victory in the War of Independence. Numerous illustrations, maps, a glossary, a bibliography, appendices, and an index to full names, places and subjects enhance this exceptional work.

A lavishly illustrated essay collection that looks through a global lens at the American Revolution and re-positions it as the real 1st world war “Every American should read this marvelous book.” —Douglas Brinkley, author of Rightful Heritage: Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Land of America From acts of resistance like the Boston Tea Party to the "shot heard 'round the world," the American Revolutionary War stands as a symbol of freedom and democracy the world over for many people. But contrary to popular opinion, this was not just a simple battle for independence in which the American colonists waged a "David versus Goliath" fight to overthrow their British rulers. In over a dozen incisive pieces from leading historians, the American struggle for liberty and independence re-emerges instead as a part of larger skirmishes between Britain and Europe’s global superpowers—Spain, France, and the Dutch Republic. Amid these ongoing conflicts, Britain's focus was often pulled away from the war in America as it fought to preserve its more lucrative colonial interests in the Caribbean and India. With fascinating sidebars throughout and over 110 full-color images featuring military portraiture, historical documents, plus campaign and territorial maps, this fuller picture of one of the first global struggles for power offers a completely new understanding of the American Revolution.

This definitive scholarly reference on the American Revolution—written by acclaimed researchers and military experts from around the world—covers the causes, course, and consequences of the war and the political, social, and military origins of the nation. The Encyclopedia of the American Revolutionary War: A Political, Social, and Military History is the new standard academic reference for investigating how the United States was created by force of arms—and how that revolution reverberated through the nation's subsequent development. Presenting the work of hundreds of distinguished international scholars and independent historians (including many from Britain and France), the encyclopedia ranges from the end of the French and Indian War in 1763 to the ratification of the Constitution in 1789. Its impeccably researched entries address the full spectrum of military, political, and cultural matters crucial to understanding the causes and course of the war—including unprecedented coverage of military life and tactics as well as vivid portraits of the Revolution's participants (men and women; soldiers and civilians; patriots and loyalists; the British, French, and American militaries; German mercenaries; Native Americans; and African Americans, both free and slave). The result is a cornerstone reference on the war and the context in which it emerged—one that supplants all other works of its kind in portraying the traumatic and triumphant birth of a nation.

Discusses the lifetime experiences of the americans who were alive in 1774 and why they were willing to risk fighting a war for independence.