The American Revolution and the Fate of the World

BOOK REVIEW: The American Revolution and the Fate of the World by Richard Bell (New York, NY: Riverhead Books, 2025) $35.00 hardcover

University of Maryland professor Richard Bell’s latest work, The American Revolution and the Fate of the World, shows how the North American struggle for independence from British control was a global conflict, changing the destinies of France, the Caribbean, Ireland, the Mediterranean, the Indian subcontinent, and even parts of China. Basically, the American Revolution influenced virtually every part of the far-flung British Empire. “While the United States rose from the wreckage of the war to take its place as the youngest member of the family of nations, many other communities caught up in it had to fight just as long and just as hard to find their own footing in the brave new world that followed.” (page 8)

Bell’s approach in writing his book was to describe how the Americans’ efforts to court foreign alliances brought all the corners of the Earth into the conflict. He advances seven core arguments throughout: mass migration, the catastrophic human cost of the war, the contingency of improvisations and choices, the importance of naval power, the power of trade, national security, and the call of liberty, which “rang around the world as never before.” (p. 10) Along with these arguments, Bell uses the experiences of individuals to help the reader better understand how the war was felt on a human scale, which was tremendous.

Each chapter is devoted to either one specific place, group of people, or historical figure to show how the Revolution was truly a world war. The first chapter, “The Empress of China: The Boston Tea Party and the Fight for Free Trade,” delves into the history and far-flung influence of the British East India Company. The second, “Disunited Kingdom: The British People and the American War,” is an unfamiliar treatment on how Britons reacted to the war in the North American colonies, at times organizing resistance. Chapters three and six cover the role of Germans: first the Hessians troops hired by Britain and later the important contributions of the Prussian drill-master Baron Friedrich von Steuben. The Irish struggle for liberty is the topic of Chapter 5, including the appearance of a young orphan who was slashed by a British officer for his refusal to clean the officer’s boots (can you guess the future president?).

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Other chapters in the book cover such topics as privateering, the Haitian Revolution, the disgraceful treatment of blacks in Nova Scotia, the efforts of blacks to settle the west coast of Africa, the crucial alliance with the French, France’s hopes to reconquer lost territory, the campaign for Spanish Florida, the siege of Gibraltar, and the future of slavery in the British Empire. Whereas the British lost thirteen colonies, the empire was able to establish a secure foothold in India (thanks to the East India Company) and create a penal colony in Australia.

Two unique and very different women stand out in the book. Chapter 4, “Molly Brant: Native Diplomacy and the Fight for Indigenous Independence,” examines the power of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and the leadership of Joseph and Molly Brant. The penultimate chapter, “Peggy Shippen: Loyalists, Mongrels, and the Great Refugee Resettlement,” tells the story of how Benedict Arnold became smitten with the young Loyalist Peggy Shippen, whose relationship with the British spy John André led to Arnold’s treachery. The chapter also describes the plight of the Loyalists at the end of the Revolution.

The American Revolution and the Fate of the World is undoubtedly a valuable resource for Revolutionary War historians. Richard Bell brings many unfamiliar stories and situations to the surface, making the American Revolution a much more important event in world history than many may have previously understood. His work is an excellent and interesting addition to Revolutionary War scholarship.

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