The Patriot

Plus, my favorite books on the Colonial Era

Happy 4th, uh, 3rd of July everyone! To celebrate the long weekend of our nation’s totally not tumultuous birth, we’ve decided to re-release an early episode of the podcast. We’re talking in this episode about The Patriot, starring Mel Gibson, Heath Ledger, Tom Wilkinson, and Jason Isaacs.

You’ve probably seen this film in the quarter century since its release. And like a lot of historical dramas, it plays fast and loose with the source material. There are no shortage of problems with the film, starting first with its refusal to deal with African slavery in South Carolina. So as the Very Serious Historians that we are, are we allowed to like this film? Well, here at Reckoning, we still love the film, warts and all. And to talk about this movie, we invited two of the best American historians you’ll ever find: Craig Bruce Smith and Robert Greene II.

This is a fun conversation with two of my best friends, talking about what we love and what we loathe in Mel Gibson bravehearty treatment of American history. I hope you like it.

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Books on the Colonial Era

There’s no shortage of books you can find on the Colonial Era, but I’m going to share with you a few that I love. I hope you will, too.

Craig Bruce Smith, American Honor: The Creation of the Nation's Ideals During the Revolutionary Era. Of course we have to include Craig’s work. Craig shows how concepts such as virtue and honor became entwined with the ideals of the American Revolution. Use code 01HATM30 for 30% off.¹

Lindsay Chervinsky, Making the Presidency: John Adams and the Precedents That Forged the Republic. Lindsay is another friend of the pod and her latest book examines while George Washington established the presidency, John Adams had the unenviable tasking of molding it.

J.R. McNeill, Mosquito Empires: Ecology and War in the Greater Caribbean, 1620–1914. This might be the book that turned me towards environmental history. McNeill shows how mosquitoes and the diseases they transmitted shaped the colonial landscape in the Western hemisphere. Warning: McNeill’s dry wit will cause you to literally laugh out loud at times during this book.

Mary E. Hicks, Captive Cosmopolitans: Black Mariners and the World of South Atlantic Slavery. This is my favorite recent book on the history of slavery in the Americas. Mary shows how enslaved and free Black mariners capitalized on their shipboard positions and cosmopolitan expertise to participate in small-scale commodity trading on the very coasts where they themselves had been traded as commodities, reshaping societies and cultures on both sides of the Atlantic. Use code 01HATM30 for 30% off.

Kathleen DuVal, Independence Lost: Lives on the Edge of the American Revolution. Want a book on the American Revolution that tells stories you’ve never heard before. Read this. Kathleen radically reorients the American Revolution by telling stories centered on the Gulf South. You’ll read of Native folk, Black folk, colonists, and imperialists. This is my single favorite book on the American Revolution.

So there you go. One podcast episode and five books on the colonial era. Maybe you’ll enjoy them. But I hope you’ll absolutely enjoy your Independence Day weekend.

Jason

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1. I don’t receive anything for this; I just arranged a discount from UNC Press for my readers.