Six months after the Declaration of Independence, the American Revolution was all but lost. A powerful British force had routed the Americans at New York, occupied three colonies, and advanced within sight of Philadelphia. Yet, as David Hackett Fischer recounts in this riveting history, George Washington and many other Americans refused to let the Revolution die. On Christmas night, as a howling nor'easter struck the Delaware Valley, he led his men...

A distinguished history and author of Washington's Crossing analyzes the concepts of liberty and freedom through visions, images, and symbols throughout the folk history of those ideas, showing how they are popular beliefs deeply embedded in American culture rather than political abstractions. Liberty and freedom: Americans agree that these values are fundamental to our nation, but what do they mean? How have their meanings changed through time? In...