Although American independence from Britain may seem like an inevitable turn of events to us now, it was anything but certain at the time, as a hastily formed band of militiamen and guerillas prepared to fight the best army in the world. In this fresh look at our early revolutionary history, the author of The Admirals follows a would-be nation from Paul Revere's unheralded earlier ride of December 1774 through the first shots fired on Lexington Green in April 1775 and the Battle of Bunker Hill that June, culminating with a Virginian planter named George Washington taking command of the Continental Army on July 3, 1775.

"Borneman has written an engaging and illuminating account of some of the most critical weeks in American history. Here is how it all began."—Jon Meacham