{"product_id":"tyrants-and-rogues-understanding-the-declaration-of-independence","title":"Tyrants and Rogues: Understanding the Declaration of Independence","description":"\n\u003ctable align=\"center\" border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"2\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"100%\"\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd class=\"productDetailSmallElements\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tIs there anything new to say about the Declaration of Independence? In this brilliant new book, Robert G. Parkinson offers an emphatic 'yes.' . . . This is a vitally important book to be read in 2026 and beyond.--Francis D. Cogliano, author of Revolutionary America, 1763-1815: A Political History\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cem\u003eTyrants and Rogues\u003c\/em\u003e is exceptional among books on the Declaration of Independence. . . . Robert G. Parkinson's discussion is epically effective because it goes beyond the abstract complaints to highlight the offending personalities.--Andrew Jackson O'Shaughnessy, author of The Men Who Lost America: British Leadership, the American Revolution and the Fate of the Empire\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFresh, useful, and consistently surprising.--Richard Bell, author of The American Revolution and the Fate of the World\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tA powerful reminder of what the Founders were up against when they took their stand--and of what they were willing to risk in the defense of liberty.--Nicholas Guyatt, coauthor of Jefferson's Wolf: A Founding Father's Troubling Answer to the Problem of Slavery\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublisher Marketing\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe think of the Declaration of Independence as timeless. We know the sacred phrases: \"all men are created equal,\" \"life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,\" \"self-evident truths,\" \"certain inalienable rights.\" These are some of the most important words human beings have ever written. And they are all from the Declaration's preamble, which has inspired people for centuries, including generations of revolutionaries all over the world.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBut as historian Robert G. Parkinson points out, the Declaration was not written as a timeless statement of political philosophy. It was, rather, produced in the heat of a confusing, bloody, and desperate war. And in that moment, it wasn't high ideals alone that drove the patriots forward. Parkinson's great innovation is to allow us, 250 years on, to see the Declaration as its authors did. For them, the opening paragraphs were not the main event. It was the body of the Declaration--the twenty-seven grievances against King George--that formed the essential part. Even Thomas Jefferson would have been puzzled by history's fixation on his opening sentences.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eParkinson takes us into the grievances, giving us stories of the Revolutionary era that are little known today but loomed large for the patriots. As the leaders of the Revolution saw it, they had been pushed to the breaking point by British officials who undermined colonial legislatures and courts, corrupted the judiciary, turned military power against civilians, inflamed slave revolts, forced colonists to fight one another--ultimately, waging war on their own people.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn his brilliantly original reading of the Declaration, Parkinson asks fundamental questions that have too often been overlooked: Why did the colonies declare independence when they did? What were their nonnegotiable demands? Who were the individuals whose actions made reconciliation impossible? By recovering the people and conflicts behind the Declaration's grievances, Parkinson offers a strikingly new account of the American Revolution--and shows that the issues that most alarmed colonists in 1776 are urgent once again today.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations:\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/span\u003e 05\/01\/2026 (EAN 9781324124542, Hardcover) - *Starred Review\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eContributor Bio:\u003c\/strong\u003eParkinson, Robert G\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eRobert G. Parkinson\u003c\/strong\u003e is professor of history at Binghamton University. He is the author of \n\u003cem\u003eThe Common Cause\u003c\/em\u003e, \n\u003cem\u003eThirteen Clocks\u003c\/em\u003e, and \n\u003cem\u003eHeart of American Darkness\u003c\/em\u003e. He lives in Charles Town, West Virginia.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e\n","brand":"W. W. Norton \u0026 Company","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51496206008598,"sku":"9781324124542","price":38.39,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0857\/9910\/8886\/files\/9781324124542.jpg?v=1783057523","url":"https:\/\/lusper.myshopify.com\/products\/tyrants-and-rogues-understanding-the-declaration-of-independence","provider":"Lusperbooks","version":"1.0","type":"link"}