America before 1787: The Unraveling of a Colonial Regime

An original account, drawing on both history and social science, of the causes and consequences of the American Revolution

With America before 1787, Jon Elster offers the second volume of a projected trilogy that examines the emergence of constitutional politics in France and America. Here, he explores the increasingly uneasy relations between Britain and its American colonies and the social movements through which the thirteen colonies overcame their seemingly deep internal antagonisms.

Elst...