Yale ’64 Authors Book Club (reminder)
January 7, 2022
Classmates,
This is a reminder to sign up for the Class of 1964 Authors Book Club’s Zoom event on January 12, 2022 at 4:30pm EST (1:30pm PST) featuring my recent American history book entitled The Will of the People: The Revolutionary Birth of America. It is available on Amazon (here) and other online bookstores (also in Audible format).
Registration for the Zoom event will be required. All spouses are invited and welcome to attend with or without classmates. Register for the meeting by clicking on the following link:
Click here to register
IMPORTANT: You will receive a confirmation email with a link to the meeting. That link will be unique to you. On January 12, 2022, you will receive the meeting link again. You will not have to hunt for it.
The thesis of the book is that it was ordinary American men and women who made the American Revolution a success. Far from the actions of the Continental Congress and the Continental Army and the generals and politicians, they took the reins of power and preserved a political culture based on the rule of law, creating America’s political identity in the process. They policed their neighbors, sent troops and weapons to support the war, and created local governing bodies. Of particular interest is their relative restraint in handling their Loyalist neighbors. No guillotines. Hundreds of stories were gleaned from historical materials to underline how their self-determination and self-governance made the American Revolution succeed.
For your information, here are a few of my biographical details. After undergraduate and graduate degrees from Yale (BA 1964, PhD 1968), I taught at Northwestern University from 1985 to 2013. I also taught and held visiting professorships at other US and non-US universities and institutions. I am currently a professor at large at Vermont University. Since my first book in 1970, The Character of the Good Ruler: A Study of Puritan Political Ideas in New England, 1630-1730, I have authored eight further histories about the Colonial period, including The Will of the People.
The Book Club meeting will begin with a discussion of the book, followed by audience questions and discussions. John More will be the moderator. If you have questions or comments you would like to have addressed, please feel free to contact John.
Best wishes,
Timothy Breen
