Propaganda Wars of the American Revolution - From the Boston Patriots to George Washington

A revelatory account of the power of the written word in the destruction of British colonial rule in America
 
The American Revolution was not only fought on bloody battlefields, it was waged with the ink of pen and print. George Goodwin shows how the leaders of the American Revolution brilliantly weaponized information and propaganda through correspondence and newspapers, shaping public perception, mobilizing support, and swaying the colonies toward open rebellion. Once the war began, George Washington’s tireless ability to deploy the pen and press as a weapon of war helped to unite and sustain very different colonies and colonists during the eight long years before victory.
 
Drawing on a wealth of contemporary accounts, letters, and publications, Goodwin demonstrates how liberty and authority were contested through ideas, images, and rhetoric at the time of America’s birth—and how, 250 years on, the Revolution can be seen as America’s first great media war.

About the author

George Goodwin, a fellow of the Royal Historical Society and 2018–19 fellow at the Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington, is the author of Benjamin Franklin in London and lives close to London’s Kew Gardens.

Product details

• Authors: George Goodwin, Goodwin George
• Publisher: Yale University Press Ltd
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Release: 25.08.2026
• EAN: 9780300263251
• ISBN: 978-0-300-26325-1
• No. of pages: 384
• Subjects: Non-fiction book > History > Miscellaneous; Social sciences, law, business > Media, communication > Media science; USA, Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900, Media Studies, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Media Studies, HISTORY / United States / Revolutionary Period (1775-1800), POLITICAL SCIENCE / Propaganda, United States of America, USA, History of the Americas, Political control and freedoms, Political Control & Freedoms, C 1700 To C 1800, c 1765 to 1783 (American Revolutionary period), c 1783 to c 1800 (American Federalist era)