Hear from Benjamin L. Carp, author of The Great New York Fire of 1776: A Lost Story of the American Revolution. This exciting new book tells the untold story of who set the mysterious fire that burned down much of New York City shortly after the British took the city during the Revolutionary War. Carp takes readers on thorough investigation of the dramatic and catastrophic event, as well as its consequences for the city’s people and the Revolutionary cause.

Attendees will have the opportunity to submit questions and have their books signed.

REGISTER

In PersonVirtualBuy the Book

Add to Calendar 04/27/2023 19:00:00 04/27/2023 20:00:00 America/New_York Ford Evening Book Talk: The Great New York Fire of 1776

Hear from Benjamin L. Carp, author of The Great New York Fire of 1776: A Lost Story of the American Revolution. This exciting new book tells the untold story of who set the mysterious fire that burned down much of New York City shortly after the British took the city during the Revolutionary War. Carp takes readers on thorough investigation of the dramatic and catastrophic event, as well as its consequences for the city’s people and the Revolutionary cause.

Attendees will have the opportunity to submit questions and have their books signed.

REGISTER

In PersonVirtualBuy the Book

George Washington Presidential Library George Washington's Mount Vernon tickets@mountvernon.org MM/DD/YYYY 15

Special Event Showing On

Cost

Free

About the Book

New York City, the strategic center of the Revolutionary War, was the most important place in North America in 1776. That summer, an unruly rebel army under George Washington repeatedly threatened to burn the city rather than let the British take it. Shortly after the Crown’s forces took New York City, much of it mysteriously burned to the ground.

This is the first book to fully explore the Great Fire of 1776 and why its origins remained a mystery even after the British investigated it in 1776 and 1783. Uncovering stories of espionage, terror, and radicalism, Benjamin L. Carp paints a vivid picture of the chaos, passions, and unresolved tragedies that define a historical moment we usually associate with “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

 

About the Author

Benjamin L. Carp is professor of history at Brooklyn College and the CUNY Graduate Center. He is the author of Defiance of the Patriots: The Boston Tea Party and the Making of America (2010), which won the triennial Society of the Cincinnati Cox Book Prize in 2013; and Rebels Rising: Cities and the American Revolution (2007). With Richard D. Brown, he co-edited Major Problems in the Era of the American Revolution, 1760-1791: Documents and Essays, 3rd ed. (2014). He has written about nationalism, firefighters, Benjamin Franklin, and Quaker merchants in Charleston. He has also written for Colonial Williamsburg, the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post. He previously taught at the University of Edinburgh and Tufts University. He was born and raised in New York State and each of his parents earned two CUNY degrees.

Sponsored By The Ford Motor Company Fund

Sponsored By The Ford Motor Company Fund

Mount Vernon has enjoyed a very special relationship with the Ford Motor Company dating back more than 90 years. We are grateful for their generous support and we applaud their abiding respect for American heritage.

Contact

Stephen A. McLeod

Director, Library Programs

703.799.8686

smcleod@mountvernon.org

Share this event

#gwmountvernon

Login
Buy Tickets Activities Calendar Shop Restaurant Give Membership
Estate Hours

9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

iconDirections & Parking
buy tickets online & save