The story of how America rallied together from a collection of colonies under British rule to an independent nation brings a sense of unity, pride, and patriotism. It's easy to forget that there’s another side to the story of the Revolutionary War and America’s independence — that some Americans did not want to break from the leadership of the British monarchy. Prolific historian Thomas B. Allen’s latest, Tories: Fighting for the King in America’s First Civil War, provides a fascinating look at this opposition on the home front.

Jeremy Gage narrates Tories with an inquiring tone that complements the investigative nature of Allen’s prose. Although many American history textbooks seem to gloss over British loyalists on American soil, Tories takes a road less travelled by presenting a history of the Revolutionary War as a civil war between colonists, highlighting the conflicts that often tore apart communities as Americans went about persecuting each other in a divided fight for independence. It is a disenchanting view but a powerful exploration, and Gage is more than willing to take the plunge into the darker side of the war that gave birth to the United States of America. His performance captures the bitterness between opposing sides inhabiting the American colonies during the war, which crescendos as the Patriots start winning battle after battle, leading up to the ultimate flight of 8,000 Tories to Canada to escape persecution.

Tories allows the listener to experience the Revolutionary War from a different perspective as it sheds light on some of the darker corners of the American war for independence. While the war is most often remembered with an overwhelming feeling of patriotism, the reality is that both sides were indelibly cruel to one another during those years. Gage serves as a guide, bringing nuance to each conflict presented in this revised look at the American Revolutionary War. —Suzanne Day