---

Joseph Plumb Martin fought as an ordinary foot soldier under George Washington in most of the important battles of the American Revolution from Long Island to Yorktown. His memoirs present a rare grunts-eye-view of the war, a vital primary source for historians of the War of Independence. Yet Dr. Peter Manos sees even richer revelations in Martin s narrative than as a supplement to blow-by-blow descriptions of battles. Martin s narrative reveals nothing less than an ordinary American s view of the shift from authoritarian monarchy to that of the first democratic republic in the modern world, a grass roots record of the genesis of the American character: its populism, anti-intellectualism, and even racism. Manos s ground-breaking work culminates in a play in which Martin speaks for himself and therefore speaks for America as a whole. It is an essential addition to any study of the growth of democracy and popular sovereignty in the world.

---

Peter Manos has a PhD, US History, U.Akron, MA, Social Studies Ed, Lehman College, NYC & a History BA, McGill University, (With Great Distinction). He teaches at John Carroll U., Tri-C & CSU in Cleveland, Ohio. He was Awarded Outstanding Teacher at Notre Dame.His Civil Rights play WALK, DON T RIDE (Dramatic Pub. Co, 2007)is performed across the US.

---