Frontier Rebels with Patrick Spero

Librarian Patrick Spero's new book Frontier Rebels: The Fight for Independence in the American West 1765–1776 is the untold story of the “Black Boys,” a rebellion on the American frontier in 1765 that sparked the American Revolution.

“Spero’s thoughtful work is an important contribution to ongoing reassessments of the nature and meaning of the American founding.”
- Publishers' Weekly (starred review)

“A long lost story that Spero tells with understated elegance.”
- Joseph J. Ellis, author of American Dialogue

“Riveting… Written in crystalline prose and populated by a host of colorful characters, this book is ideal for general audiences, undergraduate students, and specialists alike.” - David J. Silverman, author of Thundersticks

Drawing on largely forgotten manuscript sources from archives across North America, Patrick Spero recasts the familiar narrative of the American Revolution, moving the action from the Eastern Seaboard to the treacherous western frontier. In spellbinding detail, Frontier Rebels reveals an often-overlooked truth: the West played a crucial role in igniting the flame of American independence.