As the American Revolution broke out in New England in the spring of 1775, dramatic events unfolded in Virginia that proved every bit as decisive as the battles of Lexington and Concord and Bunker Hill in uniting the colonies against Britain. Virginia, the largest, wealthiest, and most populous province in British North America, was led by Lord Dunmore, who counted George Washington as his close friend. But the Scottish earl lacked troops, so when patriots imperiled the capital of Williamsburg, he threatened to free and arm enslaved Africans—two of every five Virginians—to fight for the Crown.

Virginia’s tobacco elite was reluctant to go to war with Britain but outraged at this threat to their human property. Dunmore fled the capital to build a stronghold in the colony’s largest city, the port of Norfolk. As enslaved people flocked to his camp, skirmishes broke out. “Lord Dunmore has commenced hostilities in Virginia,” wrote Thomas Jefferson. “It has raised our countrymen into a perfect frenzy.” With a patriot army marching on Norfolk, the royal governor freed those enslaved and sent them into battle against their former owners. In retribution, and with Jefferson’s encouragement, furious rebels burned Norfolk to the ground on January 1, 1776, blaming the crime on Dunmore.

The port’s destruction and Dunmore’s emancipation prompted Virginia’s patriot leaders to urge the Continental Congress to split from Britain, breaking the deadlock among the colonies and leading to adoption of the Declaration of Independence. Days later, Dunmore and his Black allies withdrew from Virginia, but the legacy of their fight would lead, ultimately, to Abraham Lincoln’s 1863 Emancipation Proclamation.

Chronicling these stunning and widely overlooked events in full for the first time, A Perfect Frenzy offers a striking new perspective on the American Revolution that reorients our understanding of its causes, highlights the radically different motivations between patriots in the North and South, and reveals the seeds of the nation’s racial divide.

Praise for A Perfect Frenzy:

“Absorbing . . . A new exploration of the crucible of colonial America . . . Lawler is especially good at casting a spotlight on the hypocrisy of the early insurrectionists as well as the double bind of Black Americans forced to navigate the treacheries of the Revolution . . . A sharp-eyed look at the messy, sometimes absurd, often cruel birth pangs of a nation . . . Lawler’s history offers us the kind of challenge we should be posing to our own revolutionary mythology. In Dunmore’s story, we find an uncomfortable truth: Our most cherished narrative can cast the deepest shadows.”—Alexis Coe, New York Times Book Review

“Artfully focuses on an important and understudied American Revolutionary period, Virginia in 1775 and 1776, and topic, slavery . . . Gives a voice to thousands of unnamed individuals as he describes events folding in Virginia . . . Lawler is an accomplished writer . . . Anyone with an interest in Virginia or Revolutionary history will find something of value to take from this text.”—Patrick H. Hannum, Journal of the American Revolution 

“A convincing rehabilitation of Dunmore, plus another dollop of clay added to the feet of our founding fathers.”—Kirkus Reviews 

“Historian Andrew Lawler offers an original take on the origins of the Revolutionary War with his thrilling tale of a wayward colonial governor who freed enslaved Africans to fight a rebel army. A Perfect Frenzy is a riveting and illuminating account of a pivotal episode in American history—a polished gem of a book.”—David Zucchino, author of Wilmington’s Lie, winner of the Pulitzer Prize

“Andrew Lawler has uncovered critical new information about why and how Virginia and its leading citizens, among them Washington and Jefferson, joined the rebellion against the British Crown—and it doesn’t shine a favorable light on them. Without Virginia there might not have been a successful Revolution. Lawler’s fascinating new book is a revelation.”—Larry Sabato, author of A More Perfect Constitution

“Just in time for the 250th anniversary of American independence, A Perfect Frenzy casts the nation’s founding in a whole new light. Andrew Lawler finds fresh voices and novel ways of looking at the start of the Revolution—and, best of all, he offers the historian’s holy grail of an original argument. I love this book.”—Woody Holton, author of Liberty Is Sweet: The Hidden History of the American Revolution

“By revisioning the past, Lawler sheds penetrating light on the present and, importantly, illuminates the future. Elegantly written and impeccably researched, this pathbreaking book is a gift this troubled nation needs as it approaches its 250th anniversary.”—Gerald Horne, author of The Counter-Revolution of 1776: Slave Resistance and the Origins of the United States of America

Praise for Andrew Lawler:

“The Secret Token, spanning more than 400 years, offers the most authoritative account of the Lost Colony to date . . . [Lawler] recounts his arduous travels with clarity and insight.”—Wall Street Journal

“Clear-eyed way . . . Just plain fascinating . . . The themes of mingled races, of cultures clashing to create something new, are surprisingly fresh and powerful.”—Washington Post, on The Secret Token

“[Lawler’s] willingness to chase down every lead, no matter how outlandish, and his enthusiasm for the journey as much as the destination, make The Secret Token a lively and engaging read.”—Economist