The American revolution was the longest colonial war in modern British history and Britain's most humiliating defeat as an Imperial power. This book examines the British public's predominantly loyal reponse to its government's actions in America. The author attributes support for George III's American policies to a combination of factors, including growing isolationism in regard to the European continent and a burgeoning sense of the colonies as intergal parts of a greater British nation. He argues that the public accepted ill-conceived projects, such as the Stamp Act, because theirs was an ""armchair"" patriotism based on paying others to fight their battles for them. Drawing on nearly 1000 political pamphlets, as well as broad sides, private memoirs and popular cartoons the book offers an insight into 18th-century British political culture and an account of what the revolution meant to people on both sides of the Atlantic.

About the Author
Eliga H. Gould is associate professor of history at the University of New Hampshire.


Book Information
ISBN 9780807848463
Author Eliga H. Gould
Format Paperback
Page Count 288
Imprint The University of North Carolina Press
Publisher The University of North Carolina Press
Weight(grams) 410g