War Without Mercy
Liberty or Death in the American Revolution
Published on 9. October 2025
Book
Hardback
288 pages
978-1-4728-7267-8 (ISBN)
Description
Drawing on vivid contemporary accounts, this is a fascinating exploration of how and why the Revolutionary War descended into a brutal existential struggle.
This engrossing history of the Revolutionary War conclusively shows that those caught up in it believed they had nothing to lose by fighting without regard for the rules of so-called "civilized warfare." The clarion call to arms "Liberty or Death" was far more than just rhetoric. At its grimmest level, it was a conflict in which military restraint was more the exception than the rule, a struggle in which combatants believed their very existence was in question. This led to an acceptance of violence against persons and property as preferable to a defeat equated with political, cultural, and even physical extinction. It was war with an expectation and acceptance of ferocity and brutality - anything to avoid defeat.
A number of historians have previously concluded that United States' founding struggle reached a level of ferocity few Americans now associate with the movement for independence. However, these studies have described what happened, without looking in detail at why the conflict took such a violent a turn. Written by two esteemed Revolutionary War historians, War Without Mercy does exactly that. Based on years of research and enlivened by little known primary sources, this is an intriguing and fresh look at a period of history we thought we knew.
This engrossing history of the Revolutionary War conclusively shows that those caught up in it believed they had nothing to lose by fighting without regard for the rules of so-called "civilized warfare." The clarion call to arms "Liberty or Death" was far more than just rhetoric. At its grimmest level, it was a conflict in which military restraint was more the exception than the rule, a struggle in which combatants believed their very existence was in question. This led to an acceptance of violence against persons and property as preferable to a defeat equated with political, cultural, and even physical extinction. It was war with an expectation and acceptance of ferocity and brutality - anything to avoid defeat.
A number of historians have previously concluded that United States' founding struggle reached a level of ferocity few Americans now associate with the movement for independence. However, these studies have described what happened, without looking in detail at why the conflict took such a violent a turn. Written by two esteemed Revolutionary War historians, War Without Mercy does exactly that. Based on years of research and enlivened by little known primary sources, this is an intriguing and fresh look at a period of history we thought we knew.
Reviews / Votes
War Without Mercy is a necessary corrective to the long-held belief that the American Revolution was more about high-minded ideals than brutal warfare. As Mark Edward Lender and James Kirby Martin vividly demonstrate, Americans found themselves in a no-holds-barred conflict of terrifying violence from which the country has yet to recover. This is history at its insightful and mesmerizing best. * Nathaniel Philbrick, New York Times bestselling author of 'Valiant Ambition' and winner of the George Washington Prize * Noted military historians Mark Edward Lender and James Kirby Martin offer a fresh look at the brutality of the Revolutionary War, one they rightly call cruel and ruthless. This book breaks new ground showing why the conflict took so violent a turn, and explores the unforgiving and merciless nature of revolutionary violence. * John R. Maass, author of 'From Trenton to Yorktown: Turning Points of the Revolutionary War ' * Powdered whigs and genteel manners have no place in Lender & Martin's War Without Mercy, the long overdue and brilliantly told story of a vicious struggle for supremacy in America. * John Buchanan, author of 'The Road to Guilford Courthouse' and 'The Road to Charleston' * Did the Revolutionary War devolve into an existential struggle divorced from the constraints of "civilized warfare"? Acclaimed historians Lender and Martin make their case in War without Mercy. Deeply thoughtful, if controversial, this is a profoundly important book. * Beth L. Hill, President & CEO, Fort Ticonderoga * [A] powerful and unflinching account... War Without Mercy exposes the raw emotional and ideological forces that drove Patriots and Loyalists alike to acts of extraordinary violence. This is an essential corrective to the sanitized narrative of American independence. * T. Cole Jones, author of 'Captives of Liberty: Prisoners of War and the Politics of Vengeance in the American Revolution' *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Illustrations
1 x 8-page section of colour illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 238 mm
Width: 163 mm
Thickness: 32 mm
Weight
496 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4728-7267-8 (9781472872678)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Mark Edward Lender | James Kirby Martin
War Without Mercy
Liberty or Death in the American Revolution
E-Book
10/2025
1st Edition
Osprey Publishing
€21.49
Available for download
Persons
Mark Edward Lender is Professor Emeritus of History at Kean University. He is co-author with James Kirby Martin of A Respectable Army: The Military Origins of the Republic, 1763-1783, which for several years was required reading at West Point. He lives in Richmond.
James Kirby Martin is Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Houston. Martin is author and editor of a number of books. He is a historian advisor to the Oneida Indian Nation of New York. He lives in Houston.
James Kirby Martin is Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Houston. Martin is author and editor of a number of books. He is a historian advisor to the Oneida Indian Nation of New York. He lives in Houston.
Content
Preface
Prologue
Chapter 1: "Fighting Justly"? Jus in Bello and Its Problems
Chapter 2: Of "Enemies External and Internal" War to the Knife in Revolutionary New Jersey
Chapter 3: Theater of Fear - Existential War in the West
Chapter 4: "A Contagion of Violence" The New York Frontier
Chapter 5: Target New London - Benedict Arnold from Jus in Bello to "Hard Line"
Chapter 6: War without Mercy - The Tragedy of the South
Epilogue: A Word from Thucydides
Notes
Bibliography
Acknowledgements
Index
Prologue
Chapter 1: "Fighting Justly"? Jus in Bello and Its Problems
Chapter 2: Of "Enemies External and Internal" War to the Knife in Revolutionary New Jersey
Chapter 3: Theater of Fear - Existential War in the West
Chapter 4: "A Contagion of Violence" The New York Frontier
Chapter 5: Target New London - Benedict Arnold from Jus in Bello to "Hard Line"
Chapter 6: War without Mercy - The Tragedy of the South
Epilogue: A Word from Thucydides
Notes
Bibliography
Acknowledgements
Index