Book Release: Tom Shachtman, How the French Saved America

Join us a presentation and discussion with Tom Shachtman, author of How the French Saved America: Soldiers, Sailors, Diplomats, Louis XVI, and the Success of a Revolution.  

What better day than Bastille Day to reflect on the essential contributions of the French to America’s fight for independence!

This is a Salisbury READS event, presented in partnership with the Salisbury Association Historical Society in connection with the community READ of Revolution Song by Russell Shorto. To learn more and see the whole calendar of events, please visit Salisbury READS.

Registration required.

Author, filmmaker, and educator Tom Shachtman has written over forty books as well as television documentaries aired on ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, and other channels. He has lectured at universities from Harvard to Georgia Tech to Stanford, and at libraries from the New York Public to the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian, the Newberry in Chicago, and the Hoover Institution. His trilogy of books providing new perspectives on the American Revolution includes THE FOUNDING FORTUNES (2020); HOW THE FRENCH SAVED AMERICA (2017); and GENTLEMEN SCIENTISTS AND REVOLUTIONARIES (2014).

Praise for How the French Saved America

“A terrific read, incredibly researched, vivid, persuasive, wonderful details and analysis – everything you want history to be.” 
– Constance Rosenblum, former section editor, The New York Times 

“At last, a full and compelling account of the crucial role that France and the French played in the American Revolutionary War.  This book deserves a place on the bookshelf of every American history buff.” 
– Jeswald Salacuse, Distinguished Professor and Former Dean, The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University

“Shachtman illuminates the impact of French contributions to American military leadership, resources, and engineering knowledge, while also paying close attention to the effects of French-led international negotiations with Britain and Spain. Throughout he emphasizes the roles played by King Louis XVI, the Marquis de Lafayette, and others who worked closely with more-well-known American figures such as George Washington and Benjamin Franklin …. Of interest to American-history enthusiasts and Francophiles alike.”  
– Publishers Weekly