Samuel Adams was a firebrand who preached rebellion against authority, sided with the poor and oppressed against wealth and power and suffered years of mockery, hardship and seeming failure. Yet he was a leader in making the dream of independence and liberty a reality.  Thomas Jefferson called him "the man of the Revolution ... the man who made us free," and John Adams said of him, "Sam not only lit the first flame of American revolution but he was the man who kept it alive."

"A man has the right to break the law if he feels his freedom cannot otherwise be preserved." This was the title of Samuel Adams' Harvard graduation speech in 1743. Adams was twenty-one, and the American colonies were loyal to the British crown, but already the future destiny of this outspoken young man and the land he loved was taking shape. In the years that followed, British scorn of legitimate American grievances convinced Sam Adams that only radical action could secure American rights. Step by step, follower by follower, he organized the forces of protest.

Ever more desperately, Britain countered his moves—with appeasement, then with economic reprisals and finally with armed might. The landing of British troops in Boston spelled success for Adams' plan. No longer was compromise possible. The Boston Tea Party ... the Boston Massacre ... Lexington and Concord ... the First Continental Congress ... the Declaration of Independence ... the Revolution ... all were part of the momentous chapter of history that Sam Adams helped author. Today, as the voices of discontent are heard again throughout the land, the story of this great fighter for freedom reveals as essential part of our heritage and shows what can happen when a government becomes unresponsive to the wishes and needs of its people.

From the dust jacket