Ask most Americans why their forefathers started the Revolution, and they'll likely mention no taxation without representation or the belief in life, liberty, a... » 

Ask most Americans why their forefathers started the Revolution, and they'll likely mention no taxation without representation or the belief in life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as inalienable rights. But thats just the start of the story, as historian Alan Axelrod so brilliantly shows in this eye-opening book. Axelrod offers a fascinating examination of what really caused the breach across the Atlantic and how the revolutionary movement began. The American Revolution brought something unique to the world: an entirely new kind of nation, founded on a set of ideas. In engrossing, conversational prose, Axelrod brings the birth of America to life by digging beneath the classically taught history to explore everything from little-known facts to alternate realities, along with the eyewitness testimony, pop culture, and art of the period. «