Book picks similar to
To Love a Rebel by Christine Dorsey


revolutionary-war
scots-kilty-pleasures
18th-century
american-patriotic

The Privateersman


Richard Woodman - 2000
    But tranquility can only last so long. When deception and tragedy strike, the devastated Kite goes back to sea. Far from recovering his fortune, Kite becomes enmeshed in the beginnings of the American Revolution and a dirty civil war… Once again, everything will be at stake. The second in the William Kite Naval Adventures, The Privateersman will delight fans of Philip McCutchan, Julian Stockwin and Patrick O’Brian. The William Kite Naval Adventures The Guineaman The Privateersman The East Indiaman

The Fable of the Bees


Bernard Mandeville - 1989
    Each was a defence and elaboration of his short satirical poem The Angry Hive, 1705. The version of the Fable of 1723 and 1732 are the fullest defences of his early paradox that social benefit is the unintended consequence of personal vice. It is an argument that is generally held to lie behind Adam Smith's doctrine of the 'hidden hand' of economic development.

Old Glory


Christopher Nicole - 1986
     Young Harry McGann is forced to flee Ireland for the unknown shores of America. On that voyage he meets Elizabeth Bartlett, who seems as far beyond his reach as the stars which guide him across the Atlantic. Through the years that follow, Harry finds himself involved in the formation of the American Navy. It is a world of intrigue, violence and untold dangers at sea. But always the memory of Elizabeth is there … and their paths are destined to cross again and again. ‘Old Glory’ is a tale of blistering naval battles and wild romance on the high seas. It is the first book in The McGann saga.

America's Daughter


Celeste De Blasis - 2021
    Soon, the glittering summers in rural Virginia with her cousins and the plush prosperity of her father’s home in Boston are eclipsed by the fight for American independence.When the British forces lay siege to Boston, Addie’s family is torn in two. Her brothers and her childhood sweetheart Silas leave to become aides to General Washington alongside Alexander Hamilton, while Addie’s English-born, Loyalist father welcomes the British into his home. Just as Addie takes the painful decision to join the fight, she meets enigmatic Scottish Highlander John Traverne. But he’s on the side of the English king, so Addie will not give in to the spark between them.As the bitter war continues, Addie’s life becomes increasingly bound with the fate of America. When Silas is captured by the British, Addie risks all to search for him, but venturing into enemy territory brings her face to face with her Highlander again, and she must make an impossible choice between love, or the future of her nation…An epic, emotional and heartbreaking novel about a woman caught in the struggle for a new America. Readers who love My Dear Hamilton and Flight of the Sparrow will be swept away by America’s Daughter.

The Gathering Dawn


Sally Laity - 1994
    Barely does she set foot on American soil before she is embroiled in the schemes and intrigues against the British Crown...Daniel Haynes is a bold and courageous post-rider, whose Christian beliefs more him to work secretly in the fight for freedom from England... and whose revolutionary activities put him in constant danger... Amid the conflict and drama of the Colonies in uprising, these two people meet, drawn together by circumstance and unexpected emotions. But tragedy and treachery separate them, and only their faith in God - and a miracle - can bring them together again. A gripping drama of love and triumph is set against the colorful backdrop of pre-Revolutionary America.

The Hessian


Howard Fast - 1972
    At the heart of the story is a Quaker family, who hide the boy after his landing party has been killed in an ambush. Because the captain of the Hessians had ordered the hanging of a local whom he thought might be a spy, the town militia lay in wait, massacred the Hessians, and hunted down the only survivor, Hans Pohl. His capture and trial provide an opportunity to explore the difficult moral position that war presents, complicated by the presence of the Quaker family. The story is told from the point of view of Evan Feversham, a doctor who has seen enough of death, and an outsider in the narrow world of Puritan New England. Based on a true event.

Light-Horse Harry Lee: The Rise and Fall of a Revolutionary Hero - The Tragic Life of Robert E. Lee's Father


Ryan Cole - 2019
    Cole tells his story with care, sympathy, and where necessary, sternness. This book is a great, and sometimes harrowing read." —Richard Brookhiser, senior editor at National Review and author of Founding Father: Rediscovering George Washington Who was "Light-Horse Harry" Lee?  Gallant Revolutionary War hero. Quintessential Virginia cavalryman. George Washington’s trusted subordinate and immortal eulogist. Robert E. Lee’s beloved father. Founding father who shepherded the Constitution through the Virginia Ratifying Convention. But Light-Horse Harry Lee was also a con man. A beachcomber. Imprisoned for debt. Caught up in sordid squabbles over squalid land deals. Maimed for life by an angry political mob. Light-Horse Harry Lee’s life was tragic, glorious, and dramatic, but perhaps because of its sad, ignominious conclusion historians have rarely given him his due—until now. Now historian Ryan Cole presents this soldier and statesman of the founding generation with all the vim and vigor that typified Lee himself. Scouring hundreds of contemporary documents and reading his way into Lee’s life, political philosophy, and character, Cole gives us the most intimate picture to date of this greatly awed but hugely talented man whose influence has reverberated from the founding of the United States to the present day.

The Day the American Revolution Began: 19 April 1775


William H. Hallahan - 2000
    A shot rang out, and the Redcoats replied with a devastating volley.But the day that started so well for the king's troops would end in catastrophe: seventy-three British soldiers dead, two hundred wounded, and the survivors chased back into Boston by the angry colonists. Drawing on diaries, letters, official documents, and memoirs, William H. Hallahan vividly captures the drama of those tense twenty-four hours and shows how they decided the fate of two nations.

Dark Eagle: A Novel of Benedict Arnold and the American Revolution


John Ensor Harr - 1999
    His men worshipped him as a hero. But as the legendary general of the Continental Army neared the pinnacle of success, things began to go wrong, drawing Arnold inexorably toward the greatest crime of the age, one that would forever make his name synonymous with the word "traitor". Meticulously researched and brilliantly rendered, Dark Eagle illuminates both sides of the Revolutionary War from 1775 to 1780. Harr traces Arnold's spectacular rise, culminating in his victory at Saratoga and his marriage to Peggy Shippen, the beautiful loyalist daughter of a prominent Philadelphia family, and Arnold's decline, culminating in his plan with Major John Andre and Peggy to betray Washington and deliver West Point to the British.

The Hamilton Affair


Elizabeth Cobbs - 2016
    Croix. He went to America to pursue his education. Along the way he became one of the American Revolution’s most dashing—and unlikely—heroes. Adored by Washington, hated by Jefferson, Hamilton was a lightning rod: the most controversial leader of the American Revolution.She was the well-to-do daughter of one of New York’s most exalted families—feisty, adventurous, and loyal to a fault. When she met Alexander, she fell head over heels. She pursued him despite his illegitimacy, and loved him despite his infidelity. In 1816 (two centuries ago), she shamed Congress into supporting his seven orphaned children. Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton started New York’s first orphanage. The only “founding mother” to truly embrace public service, she raised 160 children in addition to her own.With its flawless writing, brilliantly drawn characters, and epic scope, The Hamilton Affair will take its place among the greatest novels of American history.

America's First Daughter


Stephanie Dray - 2016
    As Thomas Jefferson’s oldest daughter, she becomes his helpmate, protector, and constant companion in the wake of her mother’s death, traveling with him when he becomes American minister to France.It is in Paris, at the glittering court and among the first tumultuous days of revolution, that fifteen-year-old Patsy learns about her father’s troubling liaison with Sally Hemings, a slave girl her own age. Meanwhile, Patsy has fallen in love—with her father’s protégé William Short, a staunch abolitionist and ambitious diplomat. Torn between love, principles, and the bonds of family, Patsy questions whether she can choose a life as William’s wife and still be a devoted daughter.Her choice will follow her in the years to come, to Virginia farmland, Monticello, and even the White House. And as scandal, tragedy, and poverty threaten her family, Patsy must decide how much she will sacrifice to protect her father's reputation, in the process defining not just his political legacy, but that of the nation he founded.

Alex and Eliza


Melissa de la Cruz - 2017
    The rest was history.1777. Albany, New York. As battle cries of the American Revolution echo in the distance, servants flutter about preparing for one of New York society’s biggest events: the Schuylers’ grand ball. Descended from two of the oldest and most distinguished bloodlines in New York, the Schuylers are proud to be one of their fledgling country’s founding families, and even prouder still of their three daughters—Angelica, with her razor-sharp wit; Peggy, with her dazzling looks; and Eliza, whose beauty and charm rival that of both her sisters, though she’d rather be aiding the colonists’ cause than dressing up for some silly ball. Still, she can barely contain her excitement when she hears of the arrival of one Alexander Hamilton, a mysterious, rakish young colonel and General George Washington’s right-hand man. Though Alex has arrived as the bearer of bad news for the Schuylers, he can’t believe his luck—as an orphan, and a bastard one at that—to be in such esteemed company. And when Alex and Eliza meet that fateful night, so begins an epic love story that would forever change the course of American history.

My Thomas: A Novel of Martha Jefferson's Life


Roberta Grimes - 1992
    Widowed at twenty-two, Martha has no desire to lose the independence she has gained in the wake of her husband's death. But she cannot deny her feelings indefinitely. Despite her intentions, her friendship with Thomas develops into an intense and all-consuming love. History casts a shadow on Martha's newfound joy. Through her father's slave and mistress, Betty Hemings, she comes to understand the true nature of slavery, an institution she has always taken for granted. As Betty's revelations tear down the walls of her ignorance, Martha begins to work with her husband to end the despicable practice forever. This story is essentially true. Thomas Jefferson was such an obsessive record-keeper that we know what he was doing nearly every day of his adult life, and all the public things he is quoted as saying in My Thomas come from his contemporary writings. Martha's marriage to Thomas spanned the decade from 1772 to 1782, so it put her at the center of the audacious grab at freedom that was the American Revolution. Jefferson's writings suggest that if he had not been widowed, he would have retired from politics following the war and devoted himself to finding a way to end slavery that could have truly and forever healed the separations between the races. It is hard to read Martha's story now and not think about what might have been.

The Prize: Vermont


Lars D.H. Hedbor - 2011
    Between his duties on the family farm and constant worry about his father's safety, the young man's attentions are already fully occupied when a fateful encounter with an unlikely neighbor changes everything. Pulled into new intrigues and new friendships, Caleb finds himself on a path that changes his life - and which will affect the outcome of the whole war.

Highland Deception


Meggan Connors - 2014
    He certainly doesn’t expect to be confronted with his twin’s imminent death, or with the plan his brother has concocted. Ten years before, Malcolm made a tragic mistake, and, to preserve the family name—and his own skin—he allowed Kenneth to take the fall. Now that he is dying without an heir, Malcolm plans to atone for his mistake: by giving Kenneth his life back. All Kenneth has to do is assume his brother’s identity. But complicating matters is the unexpected return of Lady Isobel Mackay, the daughter of an English marquess and the wife Malcolm didn’t want. Isobel barely knows the husband who abandoned her even before their marriage, and she'd long since given up on having a real marriage with him. Yet when she returns to the Mackay holding far earlier than expected, she finds her husband a changed man. Despite the hurt between them, Isobel's heart responds to this man who cares for his entire clan as if they were family. Who, for the first time, cares for her as if she is, too. Falling in love with her husband had never been part of Isobel’s plan. But when their future is suddenly in peril, Isobel must find a way to save him—from himself and from the deception threatening to tear them apart.