Pathetic spinoff from the 1619 project attempting to rewrite history to benefit minorities and bash whites. The premise of the book is an isolated incident blown way out of proportion for political gain. Not worth the time to read.

My thanks to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic - Atlantic Monthly Press for an advance copy of this book that looks at the start of the American Revolution through the eyes of Virginia, and how their reasons might not have been the same as the other colonies, as their way of life was in more ways of changing than being taxed without representation.

Most of us learn the history of our country in third or fourth grade, and these lessons are hardly ever challenged or added to. Most of us know stories about wooden teeth and cherry trees dealing with our first president, not his slave holdings, his land speculation and marrying into wealth. Thomas Jefferson people might be a little bit more aware of his sordid side, but even that is probably not discussed. When textbooks have to be approved in Texas for the whole of the United States to learn from, well, don't expect much. Even the origins of the Revolution are not well known. They taxed us, we threw tea in the ocean, something something, something, and suddenly minuteman are fighting redcoats. War was not something everyone wanted. Especially in areas that were doing quite well, like Virginia. Home to the most people, the most wealth, and the most to lose, war could be messy, and ugly. Until a decision was made that could ruin the financial lives of many people, than war became the only option. A Perfect Frenzy: A Royal Governor, His Black Allies, and the Crisis That Spurred the American Revolution by journalist and author Andrew Lawler, is a look at the role of Virginia in the Revolution, and how one governor's decision made war inevitable, a war for freedom, that left many still in chains.

Virginia was an economic powerhouse in the British colony of North America. Tobacco was king, a crop that took little maintenance, little care, and could be harvested and sold with that maximized profit for those lucky enough to have the proper land, and the proper workforce. The workforce of course was slaves. Stolen from their homes in Africa, purchased and given nothing but the chance to work until death. Tobacco also leached nutrients from the soil, so the need for land was always on the mind of colonists, and lead to many, including a recently married George Washington into land speculation and claiming of lands further and further away. Into this came a recent governor appointee, Lord Dunmore, a man who also liked to live higher than his income, and who like Washington married into wealth. At first Dunmore was understanding of the Virginia elite, but as problems grew worse, Dunmore began to look for solutions, that were unpopular. To fight the growing American rebel threat, Dunmore began to look at the slave population. In in effort to get more fighting men, Dunmore promised freedom, and arms one which many Africans viewed with great excitement. Others, elite land owning whites, were not so happy, and felt that revolution might be only solution.

As I get older it always amazes me that there are many things that I know nothing about, even though I have read numerous books and have loved history for years. I must admit to a blind spot in Southern history. That and the Civil War have never really interested me. I knew of efforts to free slaves by the British, and how many had to go to Canada after the war, but I did not know about slavery being so important to Virginia's entry into the revolution. Though it makes sense. Lawler is a very good writer and included many characters, motivations and lots of incidents in the book, and yet never lets the story drag. History is a lot of little things leading to big things, and Lawler covers this well. One can see the research, and being that Lawler was from the area, the respect that Lawler has for the subject. The characters will be known to many, but Lawler introduces a lot of unfamiliar people with important roles that history has passed over, and now get their time in the sun.

A fascinating history about America that explains quite a bit of where we are today, and how we got here. This is the first book I have read by Andrew Lawler, and I can't wait to read more.

This book started off a bit slow. There was a lot of different characters/actors that the reader needed to become acquainted with.
However, its a fascinating look at how the Royal governor, Dunmore, tried to stop the American Revolutionary War, and what ultimately he did to flame the fires of independence.

I learned alot about the Revolutionary war in Virginia, the burning of Norfolk and the taking of the free press.

The majority of the book was exploring how the British tried to get black slaves to come to their side with promises of Freedom. And they got a great many of them to come over.

However, the budding Americans hated this and thought that their "property" was being 'wooed" by the British and as such this was intolerable.

I learned about the battle for the Great Bridge and the correspondence of Dunmore back to England, who was basically left alone to navigate how to proceed .

This was a great, informative book that is for anyone who wants to learn more about the Revolutionary War in Virginia.