Republic and Empire: Crisis, Revolution, and America’s Early Independence

by Trevor Burnard, Andrew Jackson O'Shaughnessy

A fresh look at the American Revolution as a major global event

At the time of the American Revolution (1765–83), the British Empire had colonies in India, Africa, the Caribbean, the Pacific, Canada, Ireland, and Gibraltar. The thirteen rebellious American colonies accounted for half of the total number of provinces in the British world in 1776. What of the loyal half? Why did some of Britain’s subjects feel so aggrieved that they wanted to establish a new system of government, while others did not rebel? In this authoritative history, Trevor Burnard and Andrew Jackson O’Shaughnessy show that understanding the long-term causes of the American Revolution requires a global view.

As much as it was an event in the history of the United States, the American Revolution was an imperial event produced by the upheavals of managing a far-flung set of imperial possessions during a turbulent period of reform. By looking beyond the familiar borders of the Revolution and considering colonies that did not rebel―Quebec, Nova Scotia, Bermuda, India, the British Caribbean, Senegal, and Ireland―Burnard and O’Shaughnessy go beyond the republican, liberal, and democratic aspects of the emerging American nation, providing a broader history that transcends what we think we know about the Revolution.

Genres: History

320 pages, Hardcover

First published September 16, 2025

Reviews

[Nicholas Kalogeresis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book that can give you a different perspective of the American Revolution, viewed from the perspective of the British building and maintaining a world wide empire. I think the book could have benefitted from a general history narrative of the British Empire in the 18th century before it dives deep into analysis and thought. Most of the history narrative is interspersed throughout its chapters. More maps would have been helpful.