A people's history of the American revolution.

• Author: Ramares, Kellia
• Position: Good Books Lately - Brief Article

A People's History of the American Revolution by Ray Raphael The New Press, New York. 315 Pages (plus notes). $25.95.

With the Bush Administration pointing the United States toward years of war, now is an excellent time to read A People's History of the American Revolution.

Drawing on diaries, memoirs, and letters, Ray Raphael looks at the eight-year revolution from the perspective of farmers, artisans, ordinary soldiers, women, pacifists, loyalists, Indians, and black people, both slave and free. The message of this book is that unlike the simplistic myths of Minutemen versus Redcoats and slogans such as "No Taxation Without Representation," the war was not always fought on lofty philosophical or political principles. And the war was not all...