Rise to Rebellion is a 2001 historical fiction

Historical fiction

Historical fiction tells a story that is set in the past. That setting is usually real and drawn from history, and often contains actual historical persons, but the principal characters tend to be fictional...

 book by Jeff Shaara that tells the story of the events leading up to the American Revolution

American Revolution

The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...

. The book spans from the Boston Massacre

Boston Massacre

The Boston Massacre, called the Boston Riot by the British, was an incident on March 5, 1770, in which British Army soldiers killed five civilian men. British troops had been stationed in Boston, capital of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, since 1768 in order to protect and support...

 to the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. The events of the American Revolution are portrayed through the perspectives of multiple characters, including Sentry Hugh White of the British army, John Adams

John Adams

John Adams was an American lawyer, statesman, diplomat and political theorist. A leading champion of independence in 1776, he was the second President of the United States...

, Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin

Dr. Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat...

, Lieutenant-General Thomas Gage

Thomas Gage

Thomas Gage was a British general, best known for his many years of service in North America, including his role as military commander in the early days of the American War of Independence....

, George Washington

George Washington

George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...

, Governor Thomas Hutchinson, Captain James Hall, Abigail Adams

Abigail Adams

Abigail Adams was the wife of John Adams, who was the second President of the United States, and the mother of John Quincy Adams, the sixth...

, Paul Revere

Paul Revere

Paul Revere was an American silversmith and a patriot in the American Revolution. He is most famous for alerting Colonial militia of approaching British forces before the battles of Lexington and Concord, as dramatized in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem, Paul Revere's Ride...

, Dr. Joseph Warren

Joseph Warren

Dr. Joseph Warren was an American doctor who played a leading role in American Patriot organizations in Boston in early days of the American Revolution, eventually serving as president of the revolutionary Massachusetts Provincial Congress...

, and Major John Pitcairn

John Pitcairn

John Pitcairn was a British Marine who was stationed in Boston, Massachusetts at the start of the American Revolutionary War....

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Rise to Rebellion is the first of a two-part series on the American Revolution, modeled after Jeff and Michael Shaara

Michael Shaara

Michael Shaara was an American writer of science fiction, sports fiction, and historical fiction. He was born to Italian immigrant parents in Jersey City, New Jersey, graduated from Rutgers University in 1951, and served as a sergeant in the 82nd Airborne division...

's Civil War trilogy. It is followed by The Glorious Cause

The Glorious Cause

The Glorious Cause is a historical novel by author Jeff Shaara, a sequel to Rise to Rebellion and the conclusion to Shaara's retelling of the American Revolution....

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Reception

Rise to Rebellion received generally positive reviews for its vivid portrayal of the historical events of the American Revolution. Booklist praised it as "an exciting evocation of events leading up to the formation of America," and Publisher's Weekly appreciated the book's "passion and vigor." Kirkus Reviews, however, called the work "dull" and "disappointing," saying that the characters were "all so burdened by the task of providing the reader with huge dollops of sedulously digested information that Shaara neglects to give them any individual reality."

Rise to Rebellion spent six weeks on the New York Times fiction bestsellers list from July to August 2001. It peaked at No. 9 on the list in the week of July 22, 2001.