This magisterial work is a comparative history of three important revolutions in the Americas: the American Revolution in 1776, the 1791 slave revolt in the French colony that became Haiti, and the prolonged Spanish-American struggle for independence that ended a half century later. Lester Langley describes the movements and events that led to these wars of independence, explaining why revolution took one form in one place and a different form in another.

The tense society -- A people at war -- The dilemmas of victory -- The Caribbean on the eve of the Haitian Revolution -- The slave rebellion -- The Haitian Revolution -- Iberoamerica on the eve of the revolution -- The feared revolution -- The price of victory -- Tocqueville's America -- Bolivar's America -- The Americas at 1850.