Published on June 17, 2026 (Episode 459)
Introduction
“This is a book about a cruel and ruthless war—a war without mercy—in which those caught up in it believed they had nothing to lose by fighting without regard for the rules of so-called ‘civilized warfare.’ It was the War for American Independence. At its grimmest level, this was a confrontation in which military restraint was more the exception than the rule, a struggle in which combatants believed their very existence was in question.”
Those are the words of my guest Mark Lender and his co-author, the late James Kirby Martin, from their book War Without Mercy: Liberty or Death in the American Revolution. While a growing number of historians have shown that the Revolutionary War was often far more brutal than Americans like to remember, few have attempted to explain why it became so brutal. Lender and Martin argue that the answer lies in understanding the Revolution as an existential war: a conflict in which participants believed defeat threatened not merely political loss, but the destruction of their families, communities, and way of life.
About the Guest
Mark Lender is Professor Emeritus of History at Kean University and most recently served as advisor to the 250th Anniversary Exhibit at the National Museum of the United States Army. He is the co-author, with James Kirby Martin, of War Without Mercy: Liberty or Death in the American Revolution.
For Further Investigation
Mark Lender, War Without Mercy: Liberty or Death in the American Revolution (Osprey, 2026)
James Kirby Martin and Mark Lender, A Respectable Army: The Military Origins of the Republic, 1763-1789 (Wiley-Blackwell, 2015)
Emer de Vattel, The Law of Nations
Hugo Grotius (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
William Livingston’s World (website at Kean University)
Michael Adelberg, “250 for the 250th: Celebrating the 250th Anniversary of the American Revolution in Monmouth County”—no less than 250 articles on Monmouth County’s American Revolution “where Patriots and Loyalists clashed in brutal, localized civil warfare”.
Related Episodes
The American Revolution in the South: John Buchanan on Nathanael Greene, the Southern Campaign of the American Revolution, and the Road to Charleston
The First Martyr of the American Revolution: Christian DiSpigna on Dr. Joseph Warren, his life and times, his death at Bunker Hill, and his legacy
If This Be Treason, Make the Most of It: Carlton W. Larson on Treason, Juries, and Citizenship in the American Revolution
Tags
American Revolution; Revolutionary War; Civil War; Loyalists; Military History; Mark Lender; James Kirby Martin; Historical Thinking
