The American Revolution and the Fate of the World

By: Richard Bell

Narrated by: Richard Bell

“American history as if from a barstool, not a lecture podium. Giddy, rollicking, and bold.” —Ilyon Woo, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Master Slave Husband Wife

"Accessible and impassioned entry to anyone interested in understanding the nation's founding from a dazzling, kaleidoscopic perspective. " —Ned Blackhawk, National Book Award-winning author of The Rediscovery of America

A prize-winning historian's fascinating and unfamiliar recasting of America's war of independence as a transformative international event

In this revelatory and enthralling book, award-winning historian Richard Bell reveals the full breadth and depth of America’s founding event. The American Revolution was not only the colonies’ triumphant liberation from the rule of an overbearing England; it was also a cataclysm that pulled in participants from around the globe and threw the entire world order into chaos. Repositioning the Revolution at the center of an international web, Bell’s narrative ranges as far afield as India, Africa, Central America, and Australia. As his lens widens, the “War of Independence” manifests itself as a sprawling struggle that upended the lives of millions of people on every continent and fundamentally transformed the way the world works, disrupting trade, restructuring penal systems, stirring famine, and creating the first global refugee crisis. Bell conveys the impact of these developments at home and abroad by grounding the narrative in the gripping stories of individuals—including women, minorities, and other disenfranchised people. The result is an unforgettable and unexpected work of American history that shifts everything we thought we knew about our creation story.

Critic reviews

Praise for The American Revolution and the Fate of the World

“Bell pays ample attention to the nameless, the powerless, and the unknown in this lively history.” —Foreign Affairs

“Brings many unfamiliar stories and situations to the surface, making the American Revolution a much more important event in world history than many may have previously understood…. An excellent and interesting addition to Revolutionary War scholarship.”—Journal of the American Revolution

“The causes, course, and consequences of the war are given a fresh perspective and told in a spirited style. Recommended for anyone interested in U.S. and world history.”—Library Journal, STARRED review

“Riveting profiles provide a clear-eyed accounting of a formative conflict for the modern world.”—Publishers Weekly, STARRED review

“Based on solid and deep research, [this] book is written in clear, accessible prose—with entertaining minutia . . . that will appeal to general readers with an interest in history. A fresh perspective on a familiar subject."—Kirkus, STARRED review

“Richard Bell tells American history as if from a barstool, not a lecture podium. Giddy, rollicking, and bold, this is the story of America told up close and personal, with individuals and adventures summoned in deep, sensory detail, with all their nastiness and beauty. Infusing all is the critical idea that the dream, project, and revolution of America have always been bigger than its borders.” —Ilyon Woo, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Master Slave Husband Wife

"The American Revolution ranged across the seas, upon every inhabited continent, and across a 'vast global canvas,' as Richard Bell so powerfully exposes. His masterful synthesis provides accessible and impassioned entry to anyone interested in understanding the nation's founding from a dazzling, kaleidoscopic perspective. Highly recommended." —Ned Blackhawk, National Book Award-winning author of The Rediscovery of America: Native Peoples and the Unmaking of U.S. History

“Lucid and expansive, Richard Bell’s book presents vivid characters who reveal the global stage and stakes of a revolution that was American and much more.” —Alan Taylor, two-time Pulitzer Prize–winning author of American Revolutions: A Continental History

“Richard Bell has woven a coat of many colors—in enviably handsome prose—from the Scots who mutinied against army service in America, the Chinese workers who reenacted the Boston Tea Party (with opium), the hundreds of ex-slaves who took refuge with Britain’s ‘Hessian’ allies, and more.”—Woody Holton, author of Liberty Is Sweet: The Hidden History of the American Revolution and Abigail Adams: A Life

Realization of global conflict & resolution.

Richard Bell has written a comprehensive essay on the American Revolution in the context of the era and nation’s desires. The horrendous years of battles led to the colonists’ search for independence and, in the end, left non-whites still searching for freedom and human rights. The representatives of Bell’s expanded view of the era show the unexpected and unfair consequences of these wars. Thank you, Richard Bell! Well done!
Ned S Curtis

Global perspective, good use of individuals to demonstrate the range of experiences.

Reader brings an odd inflection, uptalking and implying that there is something ironic about the material.

The American Revolution in places you don’t normally look

I read a lot of history. This book covers aspects of the American Revolution that we normally do not read about. Each chapter covers an aspect of the revolution around the world and stories in the colonies that are not well known. Easy to read and very enjoyable.