About The Book

One of the greatest advocates of liberty our country has ever known, Patrick Henry was a brilliant American patriot who fueled the fire for the American Revolution. Best known for his fiery speech in which he proclaimed, “Give me liberty or give me death,” Henry helped the transition to independent government, became the governor of Virginia, supported George Washington during the war, and was the father of the Bill of Rights. His philosophy was the keystone to the U.S. Constitution. Henry Mayer brilliantly portrays the patriot’s great human appetite, dedication, and charisma.

Praise

“This is history and biography at its best.”—Charleston Evening Post

“It is a biography as Henry himself would have wanted it written—a readable style, informal, engaging, and entertaining.”—Southern Historian

“A fine job of placing Henry’s idea of republican rectitude in context without ignoring the many ironies of his life as a mediator between the yeomanry and the elite. Best of all, Mr. Mayer helps us understand the significance of Henry’s enduring image.”—The New York Times Book Review

“Mayer has fashioned a narrative that eases the reader with seemingly effortless grace into the rough-and-tumble world of eighteenth-century Virginia. Patrick Henry, patriot, emerges from this context in the round: a lion of a man, proud, earnest, melancholy, eloquent. The biographer has done his job; one sets this book down having heard the lion’s roar and having felt sorrow that he is no more.”—San Francisco Examiner