Description
Book SynopsisThe captivating story of two British brothers whose attempts to reform an empire helped to incite rebellion and revolution in America and insurgency and reform in Ireland
Trade Review“Paradigm-shifting.”—Steve Pincus, author of
The Heart of the Declaration"Meticulously researched, beautifully written, compellingly argued and thoughtfully presented. An arresting meditation on empire, reform and revolution, and the interplay between chance, contingency and human agency."—Thomas Bartlett, University of Aberdeen
“Working ingeniously through the lives of the two Townshend brothers—one dealing with America, the other with Ireland—Griffin has greatly expanded our understanding of the complexities and confusions plaguing the eighteenth-century British Empire.”—Gordon S. Wood, author of
The Radicalism of the American Revolution“Patrick Griffin treats his subjects with empathy and helps us to understand the rationale for their policies which had such a major and disastrous impact. This is clearly a story which deserves telling.”—Andrew O’Shaughnessy, author of
The Men Who Lost America“Griffin’s book is a provocative and original contribution to the literature on the history of the British Empire in the late eighteenth century and therefore on the origins of the American Revolution. His biographical approach offers a fresh and compelling analytical perspective.”—Peter Onuf, University of Virginia
