By John Ferling.  ISBN: 978-1-60819-08-9.  Copyright 2011.  Hardcover with 434 pages including notes and index.

No event in American history was more pivotal or more furiously contested than Congress’s declaration of independence from Britain in July, 1776.  Even after American blood had been shed at Lexington and Concord, few colonists were ready to break from the mother country.  For fifteen months, a determined group of activists toiled to push the fractious Continental Congress to a vote on independence.  John Adams, a leader of the effort, compared bringing the colonies together to getting thirteen clocks to strike at once.

Professor Ferling follows this battle for independence, a bloody war of insurgency, and a profound debate about democracy and justice.

A Mount Vernon bookplate, signed by the author, will be included with your purchase.