Author: Alec D. Rogers

Alec D. Rogers is an attorney specializing in government practice and policy in Washington, DC. A graduate of James Madison College at Michigan State University and the University of Michigan Law School, he practiced law for several years before spending over a decade on Capitol Hill as a staffer to various Members and Committees. He has reviewed books for the Washington Times, Hardball Times, and The Weekly Standard, and writes on legal matters in Engage, an online publication of the Federalist Society. Along with reading about American government and history, he enjoys sports and music. You can follow him on Twitter at @alecrogers1968 or alecrogersarchives.blogspot.com/.

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Autobiography and Biography Posted on

The Last King of America: The Misunderstood Reign of King George III

BOOK REVIEW: The Last King of America: The Misunderstood Reign of King George III by Andrew Roberts (New York: Viking, 2021) In 1774, a colonial lawyer wrote an anonymous pamphlet summarizing the political relationship between Mother England and her North American colonies. He urged King George III to use his kingly prerogatives in support of […]

by Alec D. Rogers
Autobiography and Biography Posted on

Review: Mind and Hearts: The Story of James Otis Jr. and Mercy Otis Warren

BOOK REVIEW: Minds and Hearts: The Story of James Otis Jr. and Mercy Otis Warren by Jeffrey Hacker (Amherst, MA: Bright Leaf/University of Massachusetts Press, 2021) James Otis and his sister Mercy Otis Warren belong on any list of underappreciated founding-era Americans. James was described by none less than John Adams as being “the earliest and […]

by Alec D. Rogers
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The Cabinet: George Washington and the Creation of an American Institution

The Cabinet: George Washington and the Creation of an American Institution by Lindsay M. Chervinsky (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press/Harvard University Press, 2020) In his slim volume on George Washington’s presidency, Forrest McDonald concluded that Washington had actually “done little in his own right, had often opposed the best measures of his subordinates, and had taken […]

by Alec D. Rogers
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The Quaker and the Gamecock

The Quaker and the Gamecock: Nathanael Greene, Thomas Sumter, and the Revolutionary War for the Soul of the South by Andrew Waters (Casemate, 2019) Among America’s great historical sites is the fort that still sits in the Charleston harbor where the first shots of the Civil War were fired. But while Fort Sumter is known to […]

by Alec D. Rogers
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The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775–1777

The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775–1777 by Rick Atkinson (Henry Holt and Co., 2019) New books on the American Revolution often focus on anything other than the military campaigns from 1775 to 1781. Journal of the American Revolution award winners, for instance, have featured the roles of individuals, Native Americans, and […]

by Alec D. Rogers
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Valley Forge

Valley Forge by Bob Drury and Tom Clavin (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2018) Americans refer to many of their nation’s most iconic events by simple reference. The Alamo. Pearl Harbor. The Fourth of July. They are etched in our collective memories and once invoked are still capable of unleashing emotion and memory. Valley Forge, […]

by Alec D. Rogers
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American Honor: The Creation of the Nation’s Ideals During the Revolutionary Era

Book Review: American Honor: The Creation of the Nation’s Ideals during the Revolutionary Era by Craig Bruce Smith (University of North Carolina Press, 2018) BUY THIS BOOK FROM AMAZON In American Honor: The Creation of the Nation’s Ideals during the Revolutionary Era, Craig Bruce Smith, a professor of history at William Woods University, traces the role that […]

by Alec D. Rogers
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The Hessians: Journal of the Johannes Schwalm Historical Association

In recent decades, scholarship on the American Revolution has grown to include those largely excluded from the main narrative. Women, Native Americans, those of African descent (enslaved and otherwise), and especially loyalists have all been the subject of the some of the best and most recent studies. For example, Kathleen duVal’s Independence Lost: Lives on […]

by Alec D. Rogers
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Revolution Against Empire: Taxes, Politics and the Origins of American Independence

Book Review: Revolution Against Empire: Taxes, Politics and the Origins of American Independence by Justin du Rivage (Yale University Press, 2017) [BUY NOW ON AMAZON] The typical narrative of the American Revolution generally posits 1763, which marked the end of the Seven Years’ War, as the beginning of the end for the British colonies in America.[1] That […]

by Alec D. Rogers
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American Revolutions: A Continental History

Book review: American Revolutions: A Continental History, 1750-1804 by Alan Taylor (W.W. Norton and Company, 2016). [BUY BOOK ON AMAZON] Nathaniel Hawthorne’s tale of a young Englishman seeking the favor of his wealthy relation in colonial America opens Alan Taylor’s new book on the American Revolution.[1]  Instead of encountering his prosperous relation presiding peacefully over his […]

by Alec D. Rogers
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George Washington’s Secret Spy War

Book review: George Washington’s Secret Spy War: The Making of America’s First Spymaster by John A. Nagy (St. Martin’s Press, September 2016) [BUY NOW ON AMAZON] Revolutionary War era spying has received a great deal of attention over the past decade. The “Culper Ring,” which provided George Washington with intelligence operating out of New York City […]

by Alec D. Rogers
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The War Before Independence: 1775-1776

Book review: The War Before Independence: 1775-1776 by Derek W. Beck (Sourcebooks, May 2016) [BUY ON AMAZON] The War Before Independence: 1775-1776 is the second volume in Derek Beck’s history of the Revolution following Igniting the Revolution: 1773-1775.  Covering the period shortly before Bunker Hill and concluding with the British evacuation of Boston in March of […]

by Alec D. Rogers
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The First Congress: How James Madison, George Washington, and a Group of Extraordinary Men Invented the Government

Book review: The First Congress: How James Madison, George Washington, and a Group of Extraordinary Men Invented the Government by Fergus M. Bordewich (Simon & Schuster, 2016) [BUY NOW ON AMAZON] Upon ratification of the Constitution, many Americans likely breathed a sigh of relief or, in some cases, despair.  The tumult that had accompanied ratification could […]

by Alec D. Rogers
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Rutgers v. Waddington: Alexander Hamilton, the End of the War for Independence, and the Origins of Judicial Review

Book review: Rutgers v. Waddington: Alexander Hamilton, the End of the War for Independence, and the Origins of Judicial Review by Peter Charles Hoffer (Kansas University Press, 2016). [BUY ON AMAZON] During the Revolutionary War, a widow named Elizabeth Rutgers and her sons were forced to abandon their brewery when the British occupied New York City in […]

by Alec D. Rogers