We have been so conscious in recent years of peoples all over the world striving for liberty that we almost forget that a little over a hundred and seventy-five years ago our own country was fighting to be free. There is a feeling of unreality about it which gives the whole period of the Revolutionary War a romantic glow. It was anything but romantic to our ancestors, who were living in "times that try men's souls," whether they were patriots or Tories, Hessians hired out against their wills by their tyrannical ruler or British regulars far from their homes. There were good people among our enemies, and bad ones among the patriots. These stories of the plain people - men, women, and children - and their courage and suffering show some of the varying aspects of the war that made us a nation. -Phyllis R. Fenner, 1960