Tories: Fighting for the King in America’s First Civil War

From historian Thomas B. Allen, author of Remember Pearl Harbor and George Washington, Spy Master comes a sweeping, dramatic history of the Americans who fought alongside the British on the losing side of the American Revolution. Allen’s compelling account comprises an epic story with a personal core, an American narrative certain to spellbind readers of Tom Fleming, David McCullough, and Joseph Ellis. The first book in over thirty years on this topic in Revolution War history, Tories incorporates new research and previously unavailable material drawn from foreign archives, telling the riveting story of bitter internecine conflict during the tumultuous birth of a nation.

The American Revolution was not simply a battle between the independence-minded colonists and the oppressive British. As Thomas B. Allen reminds us, it was also a savage and often deeply personal civil war, in which conflicting visions of America pitted neighbor against neighbor and Patriot against Tory on the battlefield, on the village green, and even in church.

In this outstanding and vital history, Allen tells the complete story of the Tories, tracing their lives and experiences throughout the revolutionary period. Based on documents in archives from Nova Scotia to London, Tories adds a fresh perspective to our knowledge of the Revolution and sheds an important new light on the little-known figures whose lives were forever changed when they remained faithful to their mother country.

“A good history book transports the reader back to an era; a great history book causes the reader to reflect on current events through different eyes and different times. Tories does that. Halfway through the book I began to wonder which side our current crop to Tea Party Patriots would have chosen during the Revolutionary War, and by the end of the book, I was wondering which side I would have chosen.” - Historical Novel Review

“A lively account of the colonists who remained loyal to King George during the Revolutionary War.” - Kirkus Reviews

“[A]n original and copiously sourced history of the war’s losers…” - The Economist