The Whites of Their Eyes: The Life of Revolutionary War Hero Israel Putnam from Rogers' Rangers to Bunker Hill

Don’t fire until you see the whites of their eyes” remains one of the enduring, and most stirring, quotations of the Revolutionary War, and it was very likely uttered at the Battle of Bunker Hill by General Israel Putnam. Despite this, and Putnam’s renown as a battlefield commander and his colorful military service far and wide, Putnam has never received his due from modern historians. In The Whites of Their Eyes, Michael E. Shay tells the exciting life of Israel Putnam.

Born near Salem, Mas...