The Great New York Fire of 1776

“An elegant, reader-friendly example of assiduously researched, carefully written American history that feels definitive.”—Robert G. Kaiser, Washington Post

“Benjamin Carp’s impressive new study represents a pathbreaking investigation of the role of fire in the American Revolution. Full of astonishing twists and turns, this beautifully crafted book will definitely fascinate and inform. . . . Highly recommended!”—James Kirby Martin, author of Insurrection

“Benjamin Carp’s provocative, absorbing, and definitive account of this crucial but forgotten episode in the Revolution is a clarion call for a clear-eyed and inclusive approach to American history.”—Barnet Schecter, author of The Battle for New York

“Benjamin Carp revels in the haziness of one of the more obscure but perhaps for that reason more telling episodes of the Revolution. He makes a powerful case for what war must have been like in 1776: blazing hot, lethal, and utterly bewildering.”—Russell Shorto, author of Revolution Song

“An American Revolution and New York story in one, bringing to life the mayhem of the early War of Independence, assessing causes and effects of a disaster that wiped out lower Manhattan, and ultimately raising provocative questions about the nature of historical memory.”—William Hogeland, author of Autumn of the Black Snake

“Benjamin Carp’s thorough investigation of the dramatic New York City fire in 1776 and its consequences, for the city’s people and the Revolutionary cause, illuminates old mysteries in fluent, spellbinding prose.”—Richard D. Brown, author of Self-Evident Truths