Revolution Against Empire
Justin du Rivage, Revolution Against Empire: Taxes, Politics, and the Origins of American Independence (Yale University Press, 2017)
Summary: A fresh reexamination of America's formative period. Presents a new framework of colonial and fiscal-military politics, dividing Britons and their colonists into three camps: (1) establishment Whigs, focused on trade and reluctant to impose taxes; (2) authoritarian reformers, wary of imperial overextension and insistent on taxes; and (3) radical Whigs, imbued with Enlightenment thought and skeptical of taxes.
Key Quote: "The shifting fortunes of these ideological groups explain why Britain and its North American colonies came to blows." - p. 8
Bottom Line: Read this book if you want to learn more about the American Revolution from the perspective of quasi-domestic British politics.
