Interview with Forrest Tower, author of Leaders of the American Revolution
Interviewer: Who would be interested in reading your new book, Leaders of the American Revolution?
Forrest: Anyone interested in American history will find the book engaging, easy to read, and informative. The book is designed to provide readers with information about the dozens of men and women who helped form the United States. The format is a micro-learner's dream come true—quick, concise, and relevant today.
Interviewer: What was the central argument or idea that first sparked your decision to write this book, and how did that initial concept evolve as you conducted your research?
Forrest: I have read many books about the Revolutionary period and the founding of the country. Most are either an overview of the late 1700s or a more detailed biography of a particular founder or, more frequently, of the most famous framers. I wanted to build a compendium that also included the men and women that most Americans never knew about or had only heard of infrequently. They all led interesting lives and played vital roles in the country's development.
Interviewer: In a field as vast as history, what gap in the existing literature does your book specifically aim to fill? What new perspective or evidence are you bringing to light?
Forrest: As I just mentioned, I wanted this book to take a broader perspective than other history books. I wanted it to be easy to read and to include not only the Founding Fathers but also the other important players in the story of the creation of America.
Interviewer: To what extent did you have to challenge or completely dismantle conventional wisdom or long-held historical narratives about this subject? Could you provide a concrete example?
Forrest: I don’t think I had to dismantle conventional wisdom. I believe I have augmented it by including individuals and events that are often omitted from history books. Some of these stories are pretty remarkable. Take, for example, the Widow of Mount Holly, NJ, who delayed the reinforcement of British troops to Trenton, thereby enabling George Washington and his men to have an overwhelming and historic victory.
Interviewer: You're dealing with real people from the past. How did you balance the need for rigorous, evidence-based analysis with the human desire to tell a compelling story, especially when sources were scarce or biased?
Forrest: Although I have been reading about American history my entire life and knew many of the people and stories recounted in the book, I relied heavily on online research to gather facts for each person. I then used artificial intelligence tools (Perplexity, Copilot, Meta, Gemini) to help determine which persons to include in the book and why they mattered.
Interviewer: Your book is published today. What connection or lesson do you hope modern readers, who live in a very different world, will draw from the history you've detailed?
Forrest: In today’s highly polarized political environment, it is critical to remember a couple of things. First, this is not the first time the country has been divided by politics. It started immediately after we won our independence. The Federalists wanted a strong central government, but the Democratic-Republicans fought hard to ensure that the individual states retained considerable power. These arguments were vicious and, at times, violent. The Founders used the media of their time, primarily newspapers and pamphlets, to spread misinformation, personal attacks on their opponents, and propaganda.
Second, many people were involved in the country's formation. To be a thriving democracy, we needed numerous leaders and even more citizens to demonstrate their support for the basic principles on which the country was founded. Namely, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, the right to privacy, separation of church and state, and the checks and balances that the Leaders of the American Revolution had the brilliance to build into our government.
Interviewer: What is the one major takeaway you hope lingers in the mind of a reader long after they’ve finished the final chapter?
Forrest: That many men and women contributed, in different ways, to the founding of the nation. So many of these individuals are not household names or are long forgotten in the annals of history. My hope is that I have brought forward some of them and that the reader recognizes that without every one of their contributions, America would not be the great nation that it is.
Interviewer: What differentiates your books from other American History textbooks?
Forrest: First, they are written in an easy-to-read style. Second, they are quick reads, so anyone with five or ten minutes can read a few pages and learn something new about the founding of America. Third, they all come with additional downloadable materials, free of charge, available on my website—things like discussion guides for book clubs and classes, bookmarks, further reading recommendations, and other useful content. Fourth, the book is not only about the well-known patriots.
Interviewer: Now that the book is out, what is the next historical question or era that is calling to you, and might it be the subject of your next project?
Forrest: I’m glad you asked. American History In A Nutshell is a series of books I am writing to entertain and inform anyone interested in learning about the nation’s history, using a quick-read, microlearning format.
U.S. Presidents: Decisions of Consequence, the first of five books that I have written. The first three are about U.S. Presidents and include:
“Decisions of Consequence”
“Successes and Failures”
“Quotes of Consequence”
“The Leaders of the American Revolution.”
The fifth book offers a fascinating examination of the Supreme Court of the United States. My co-author and I looked, in great detail, at each of the seventeen Chief Justices and the Landmark cases that they presided over. We took a different twist by writing in the first person, as if each Chief Justice were telling his own story and then his take on each case.
I am currently writing a book on True American Crimes, Scandals, and Secret Affairs that shocked the country from its beginning to the present.
All of the books use the same quick, easy-to-read style, although “The Supreme Court of the United States: Decisions of Consequence” is a bit more in-depth than the others.
I hope that if you like one of my books, you will read the others.
They are available at all at Amazon.com on my website, and in many retail bookstores.