Revolution: The Birth of the Greatest Nation in the History of the World

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“Once upon a time there was a REVOLUTION.”

There’s never been a nation like the United States of America. It's impossible to imagine the world without it—but do you know the wild and true story of how it came into existence?

On our 250th anniversary, the hunger for America’s story has never been greater.

Who better to tell it than historian Eric Metaxas, author of seven New York Times bestsellers, including the ground-breaking, million-selling biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer?

With the passion, erudition, and irrepressible wit that have become his signature, Metaxas’s REVOLUTION brings the epic of America’s birth to life so fully that you will feel you are a part of the story, which is precisely the point. By turns deeply moving, gripping, and spectacularly entertaining, these are the stories every American must know, including some of history’s noblest heroes — and some despicable villains.

REVOLUTION also touches on the role that sacrifice, character, and faith played in the great struggle for “the Sacred Cause” of liberty. George Washington, John Adams, Nathan Hale, Henry Knox, Horatio Gates, Israel Putnam, Benedict Arnold and many others all come to life for a new generation of Americans.

At more than 600 pages—with photos, maps, and illustrations—REVOLUTION is definitive and sweeping, an astonishing epic containing a dazzling array of stories, ranging from the explosive events that led up to Lexington and Concord,all the way through the impossible twists and turns of the war itself—including the Battle of Bunker Hill, the Crossing of the Delaware, Saratoga, and the bitter winter at Valley Forge — all the way to the final victory in Yorktown and “The World Turned Upside Down.”

Unless we ourselves know the true story of the Revolution—what some have called America’s “founding myth”—we cannot play the role we are meant to play in the Revolution that still continues today.

This is our story. We need to know it. For such a time as this.

ERIC METAXAS is the author of four New York Times Bestsellers, including the #1 Bestseller, BONHOEFFER: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy, which was named “Book of the Year” by the ECPA and sold over one million copies in 19 languages. Called a “biography of uncommon power,” it appeared on numerous 2010 “Best of the Year” lists and was ranked #21 on the Amazon.com listing of Most Highlighted Books of all time.

He is host of the Eric Metaxas Show, a nationally-syndicated daily radio program in 120 cities. (MetaxasTalk.com) ABC News has called Metaxas a “photogenic, witty ambassador for faith in public life,” and The Indianapolis Star described him as “a Protestant version of William F. Buckley.” Metaxas is also the host of Socrates in the City: Conversations on the Examined Life, broadcast on the NRB network and www.Socratesinthecity.com.

Metaxas was the keynote speaker at the 2012 National Prayer Breakfast in Washington DC, an event attended by the President and First Lady, the Vice President, members of Congress, and other U.S. and world leaders. Previous keynote speakers have included Mother Theresa, Bono, and Tony Blair. That speech and Eric’s essay on the experience, were put into a book, No Pressure, Mr. President: The Power of True Belief in a Time of Crisis.

Along with his colleague John Stonestreet, Metaxas is the voice of BreakPoint, a radio commentary that is broadcast on 1,400 radio outlets with an audience of eight million.

In 2011, Metaxas was the 17th recipient of the Canterbury Medal awarded by the Becket Fund for Religious Freedom. He has testified before Congress about the rise of anti-Semitism in the U.S. and abroad, and spoke at CPAC2013 on the issue of Religious Freedom. In September 2013, Eric and his wife Susanne were jointly awarded the Human Life Review’s “Great Defender of Life Award.” Metaxas has honorary Doctorates from Sewanee College, Hillsdale College, and Liberty University.

Eric’s book (November 2014) MIRACLES: What They Are, Why They Happen, and How They Can Change Your Life hit #12 on the New York Times Best Seller list and is being translated into German, Polish, Greek, Portuguese, Hungarian, Romanian, Russian, Estonian, Slovak, Korean, Swedish, Finnish, and Croatian.

His Dec. 25th, 2014 op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, titled "Science Increasingly Makes the Case for God," is unofficially the most popular and shared piece in the history of the Journal, garnering over 450,000 Facebook Likes and 8,000 comments.

Metaxas is a Senior Fellow and Lecturer at Large for the King’s College in New York City.

Eric Metaxas’s “Revolution: The Birth of the Greatest Nation in the History of the World” is a sweeping and passionate retelling of the American Revolution. It is not written simply as a military history or a political account of colonies breaking away from Britain. Instead, Metaxas presents the Revolution as a deeply moral and spiritual event, a struggle in which ordinary people came to believe that liberty was not a gift from kings or governments, but a sacred right given by God. His central idea is that America was born from a conviction that human beings possess dignity and rights because they are made by God, and that no earthly ruler has the authority to crush those rights.

The book begins by looking beyond the immediate causes of the Revolution. Metaxas argues that the American founding cannot be understood only through taxes, trade disputes, or parliamentary laws. He traces its roots back through centuries of religious and intellectual history, especially the Protestant Reformation and the Great Awakening. In his view, these movements taught people to question absolute authority and to think seriously about conscience, moral responsibility, and a direct relationship with God. By the time conflict with Britain grew serious, many colonists had already developed a mindset that made tyranny unacceptable. They believed that obedience to God stood above obedience to a king, and that resisting unjust power could be a righteous duty.

Metaxas describes the American Revolution as different from other revolutions in world history. He contrasts it with the French and Bolshevik revolutions, which he sees as more secular, chaotic, and destructive. In his telling, the American Revolution succeeded because it was not based mainly on resentment or a desire to tear everything down. Rather, it was grounded in ordered liberty, moral restraint, and dependence on divine providence. The colonists, he argues, were not simply declaring independence from King George III; they were also declaring dependence on God. This combination, for Metaxas, explains why the United States became a stable and enduring nation rather than collapsing into violence or dictatorship.

The story moves through the growing tensions between Britain and the colonies, showing how frustration slowly turned into open resistance. Metaxas brings to life the anger caused by British policies, the debates among colonial leaders, and the sense that the colonists were being treated not as free Englishmen but as subjects without true representation. The shots at Lexington and Concord become, in his narrative, more than the beginning of a war. They mark the moment when long-held ideas about liberty, rights, and conscience became action. What had been argued in pamphlets, sermons, and assemblies was now being defended with courage and sacrifice.

Throughout the book, Metaxas gives strong attention to major battles and turning points. He presents Bunker Hill as an early sign that the colonists, though poorly supplied and inexperienced, could stand against the most powerful empire in the world. Washington’s crossing of the Delaware is portrayed as a bold and almost miraculous act of leadership at a time when the American cause seemed close to failure. Saratoga becomes a turning point that helps convince France to support the Americans, while Valley Forge becomes a symbol of suffering, endurance, and faith. The final victory at Yorktown is shown as the moment when the old world order was shaken, proving that a free people could defeat imperial power.

A large part of the book’s appeal comes from its focus on personalities. George Washington is presented as a man of discipline, humility, patience, and deep moral seriousness. Metaxas does not treat him as perfect, but he emphasizes Washington’s character as essential to the survival of the Revolution. John Adams appears as stubborn, principled, and committed to law and virtue. Samuel Adams is given special importance as a powerful organizer and voice of resistance, someone who helped stir the colonies toward independence. Henry Knox also receives attention as one of the lesser-known heroes whose courage and practical brilliance helped the cause, especially through his work with artillery. Other figures, including Nathan Hale, Benedict Arnold, Horatio Gates, and Israel Putnam, help Metaxas show the Revolution as a drama of bravery, weakness, loyalty, and betrayal.

One of the strongest themes in the book is providence. Metaxas repeatedly suggests that God’s hand can be seen in the unlikely survival and success of the American cause. Weather, timing, surprising decisions, and narrow escapes are often treated as more than coincidences. He sees them as signs that the Revolution was part of a larger divine purpose. This does not mean that the colonists did not suffer or make mistakes, but Metaxas argues that their cause was blessed because it was tied to liberty and human dignity. He also emphasizes that many Americans believed they had to act morally if they wanted God’s favor, making virtue and self-control central to the meaning of freedom.

The book is also a warning to modern readers. Metaxas believes that Americans today often forget the spiritual foundation of their liberty. He argues that freedom cannot survive if people abandon the moral and religious convictions that gave birth to it. For him, the Revolution is not just a finished event in the eighteenth century. It is an ongoing responsibility. Each generation must decide whether it will preserve the ideals of the founding or let them fade. The “Sacred Cause” of liberty, as he describes it, requires gratitude, courage, humility, and dependence on God.

“Revolution” is a dramatic, energetic, and faith-centered account of America’s founding. It presents the birth of the United States as one of the most important events in human history, not merely because a new country was created, but because a new understanding of government and human rights entered the world. Metaxas writes with admiration for the founders and with deep confidence in America’s unique role. Readers looking for a neutral academic history may find the book strongly shaped by the author’s religious and patriotic viewpoint. But taken on its own terms, it is a vivid and heartfelt story of how courage, faith, sacrifice, and belief in God-given liberty helped create the United States of America.