Book Review — Frontier Rebels by Patrick Spero

Librarian and philosopher Patrick Spero chronicles historical events driven by the pre-Revolutionary “frontier people” of America

Photo by the Author

Many of you know how hard I’ve been working on my ongoing “Jigsaw Gens” series. Since I anticipate this being a multiyear project, I’ll be constantly reading new sources by nonfiction writers that explore the nuances of American history.

This is why, after watching him give a book talk on C-SPAN, I couldn’t resist checking out Patrick Spero’s 2018 book Frontier Rebels: The Fight for Independence in the American West, 1765–1776. This incredible nonfiction account chronicles frontier life in the mid-Atlantic colonies prior to the American Revolutionary War.

Spero gives readers a fundamental snapshot of key American historical figures active in the immediate aftermath of the French and Indian War. It provides us with much context for those who drove colonization and cultural segmentation as kids from the Madisonian generation were being born.

WHY YOU SHOULD READ THIS BOOK

Most American students don’t emerge from high school having learned about Lancaster County’s James Smith, a colonial Pennsylvanian who promoted rugged individualism…