Approximately fifty historical novels dealing with the American Revolution were published in the United States from 1896 to 1906. Benjamin S. Lawson critically examines the narrative strategies employed in these works and the ways in which fiction is made to serve the purpose of vivifying national history.
Writing within the conventions of the historical romance, these authors created plots that reflect the enveloping concerns of the War for Independence, such as the young American woman who often must choose between suitors on opposite sides in the wider conflict.
Lawson concludes that these works reassured readers of the worth of an Anglo-American heritage. They were escapist fantasies to the degree that they failed to confront contemporary realities of crisis and change: the New Immigration, urbanization and industrialization, labor strife, the plight of the poor, and agitation on behalf of women and ethnic minorities.
| Acknowledgments | ||
| Introduction | 1 | |
| New England | 27 | |
| A Lover's Revolt | 28 | |
| A Yankee Volunteer | 31 | |
| A Revolutionary Love-Story | 35 | |
| A Girl of '76 | 37 | |
| A Hero of Ticonderoga | 39 | |
| A Danvis Pioneer | 41 | |
| From Kingdom to Colony | 42 | |
| The Tory Lover | 46 | |
| Brinton Eliot | 50 | |
| The Colonials | 53 | |
| Barbara Ladd | 60 | |
| My Lady Laughter | 62 | |
| The Middle Colonies | 69 | |
| Hugh Wynne, Free Quaker | 70 | |
| In Buff and Blue | 73 | |
| Mademoiselle de Berny | 77 | |
| In Hostile Red | 80 | |
| Janice Meredith | 84 | |
| D'Arcy of the Guards | 86 | |
| King Washington | 89 | |
| The Continental Dragoon | 92 | |
| Philip Winwood | 96 | |
| The Grip of Honor | 100 | |
| Cliveden | 104 | |
| Dalrymple | 108 | |
| Valley Forge | 111 | |
| An Express of '76 | 115 | |
| The South | 121 | |
| A Son of the Old Dominion | 123 | |
| John Littlejohn of J. | 127 | |
| The Tory Maid | 131 | |
| Richard Carvel | 135 | |
| A Revolutionary Maid | 137 | |
| A Daughter of Freedom | 141 | |
| A Carolina Cavalier | 145 | |
| Joscelyn Cheshire | 149 | |
| Hearts Courageous | 153 | |
| My Captive | 158 | |
| The Story of Paul Jones | 160 | |
| The West | 167 | |
| The Sun of Saratoga | 169 | |
| Alice of Old Vincennes | 173 | |
| The Backwoodsman | 175 | |
| The Son of a Tory | 179 | |
| The Crossing | 182 | |
| Betty Zane | 185 | |
| Felice Constant | 188 | |
| Cardigan | 193 | |
| The Maid-at-Arms | 196 | |
| The Reckoning | 198 | |
| Maid of the Mohawk | 204 | |
| Conclusion | 207 | |
| Notes | 215 | |
| Bibliography | 221 | |
| Index | 231 |
Overview
Approximately fifty historical novels dealing with the American Revolution were published in the United States from 1896 to 1906. Benjamin S. Lawson critically examines the narrative strategies employed in these works and the ways in which fiction is made to serve the purpose of vivifying national history.
Writing within the conventions of the historical romance, these authors created plots that reflect the enveloping concerns of the War for Independence, such as the young ...