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Hardcover (392 pages), brand new and signed by the author, Don N. Hagist. Published by Westholme Publishing in 2025.
Winner of the 2020 American Revolution Roundtable of Philadelphia Book of the Year Award
The First Comprehensive Look at the British Soldiers Sent to America to Protect an Empire
When Americans hear the term “Redcoats,” they often picture an invading force bent on suppressing a revolution. Yet the real men behind the red uniforms—those who played a central role in the American Revolutionary War—have largely remained obscure in the historical record. Despite their involvement in a pivotal moment in global history, these soldiers have rarely been portrayed with depth. Questions linger: Who were they? What motivated them to enlist? And what became of them once the war had ended?
In Noble Volunteers: The British Soldiers Who Fought the American Revolution, historian Don N. Hagist offers a detailed exploration of the lives of these soldiers, examining how they trained, fought, and adapted during the conflict. Using thousands of primary sources—from military documents and personal letters to archives in the U.K., U.S., and Canada—Hagist paints a vivid picture of the army's transformation from peacetime service to wartime readiness, and how those involved coped with the hardships and challenges of war, both during and after the fighting.
With a foreword by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Rick Atkinson, this in-depth work challenges longstanding assumptions about the British forces. The soldiers were far from uniform—they came from different countries, age groups, and social classes, and many had joined during times of peace, only to be thrust into combat in unfamiliar and often harsh environments. Rather than focusing solely on broad military movements, Hagist zooms in on the personal: a guard braving a winter illness, a moment of quiet spent writing to family back home. Through these intimate glimpses, it becomes clear that while they are often labeled “common” soldiers, each man had his own story. As Hagist observes, “There was no ‘typical’ British soldier.”
About the author
Don N. Hagist is managing editor of the Journal of the American Revolution . An expert on the British army in the American Revolution, he is the author of many books and articles, including British Soldiers, American War: Voices of the American Revolution(Westholme 2012) and The Revolution’s Last Men: The Stories Behind the Photographs (Westholme 2015). He lives in Providence, Rhode Island.