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Pulling Back the Curtain: The American Revolution
In this episode of This, Again, we pull back the curtain on the hidden infrastructure that made American independence possible. From communication networks and local committees to supply chains, intelligence operations, diplomacy, and the ordinary people whose names rarely appear in history books, we explore how a revolution was held together long before it was won. Because history remembers the cannon fire. But the real miracle may be that the cannonballs showed up at all.
Attribution Notes:
Follow This, Again on Instagram: @thisagainshow
This, Again is written, produced, and hosted by Mallory Faust.
Primary Sources
Founders Online. National Archives and University of Virginia Press. Accessed July 2, 2026. https://founders.archives.gov/.
Commager, Henry Steele, and Richard B. Morris, eds. The Spirit of 'Seventy-Six: The Story of the American Revolution as Told by Participants. New York: Da Capo Press, 1995.
Boyle, Joseph Lee. Writings from the Valley Forge Encampment of the Continental Army: December 19, 1777–June 19, 1778. 2 vols. Bowie, MD: Heritage Books, 2001.
Bray, Robert C., and Paul E. Bushnell, eds. Diary of a Common Soldier in the American Revolution, 1775–1783: An Annotated Edition of the Military Journal of Jeremiah Greenman. DeKalb: Northern Illinois University Press.
Secondary Sources
Bailyn, Bernard. The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1967.
Breen, T. H. The Marketplace of Revolution: How Consumer Politics Shaped American Independence. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004.
Chernow, Ron. Washington: A Life. New York: Penguin Press, 2010.
Ferling, John. Almost a Miracle: The American Victory in the War of Independence. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007.
Maier, Pauline. American Scripture: Making the Declaration of Independence. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1997.
Raphael, Ray. A People's History of the American Revolution. New York: New Press, 2001.
Rose, Alexander. Washington's Spies: The Story of America's First Spy Ring. New York: Bantam Books, 2006.
Ulrich, Laurel Thatcher. Good Wives: Image and Reality in the Lives of Women in Northern New England, 1650–1750. New York: Oxford University Press, 1982.
Kathleen DuVal, Independence: The Revolutionary War in the Lives of Ordinary Americans, 1763–1789 (2024).
Government and Archival Resources
Founders Online. National Archives and University of Virginia Press. https://founders.archives.gov/.
Library of Congress. "American Revolution: A Resource Guide." https://www.loc.gov/collections/.
National Archives. "The Declaration of Independence." https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration.
National Park Service. "Valley Forge National Historical Park." https://www.nps.gov/vafo/.
National Park Service. "Yorktown Battlefield." https://www.nps.gov/colo/.
Central Intelligence Agency. Intelligence in the War of Independence. Center for the Study of Intelligence. Intelligence in the War of Independence - CIA.
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By Mallory FaustIn this episode of This, Again, we pull back the curtain on the hidden infrastructure that made American independence possible. From communication networks and local committees to supply chains, intelligence operations, diplomacy, and the ordinary people whose names rarely appear in history books, we explore how a revolution was held together long before it was won. Because history remembers the cannon fire. But the real miracle may be that the cannonballs showed up at all.
Attribution Notes:
Follow This, Again on Instagram: @thisagainshow
This, Again is written, produced, and hosted by Mallory Faust.
Primary Sources
Founders Online. National Archives and University of Virginia Press. Accessed July 2, 2026. https://founders.archives.gov/.
Commager, Henry Steele, and Richard B. Morris, eds. The Spirit of 'Seventy-Six: The Story of the American Revolution as Told by Participants. New York: Da Capo Press, 1995.
Boyle, Joseph Lee. Writings from the Valley Forge Encampment of the Continental Army: December 19, 1777–June 19, 1778. 2 vols. Bowie, MD: Heritage Books, 2001.
Bray, Robert C., and Paul E. Bushnell, eds. Diary of a Common Soldier in the American Revolution, 1775–1783: An Annotated Edition of the Military Journal of Jeremiah Greenman. DeKalb: Northern Illinois University Press.
Secondary Sources
Bailyn, Bernard. The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1967.
Breen, T. H. The Marketplace of Revolution: How Consumer Politics Shaped American Independence. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004.
Chernow, Ron. Washington: A Life. New York: Penguin Press, 2010.
Ferling, John. Almost a Miracle: The American Victory in the War of Independence. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007.
Maier, Pauline. American Scripture: Making the Declaration of Independence. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1997.
Raphael, Ray. A People's History of the American Revolution. New York: New Press, 2001.
Rose, Alexander. Washington's Spies: The Story of America's First Spy Ring. New York: Bantam Books, 2006.
Ulrich, Laurel Thatcher. Good Wives: Image and Reality in the Lives of Women in Northern New England, 1650–1750. New York: Oxford University Press, 1982.
Kathleen DuVal, Independence: The Revolutionary War in the Lives of Ordinary Americans, 1763–1789 (2024).
Government and Archival Resources
Founders Online. National Archives and University of Virginia Press. https://founders.archives.gov/.
Library of Congress. "American Revolution: A Resource Guide." https://www.loc.gov/collections/.
National Archives. "The Declaration of Independence." https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration.
National Park Service. "Valley Forge National Historical Park." https://www.nps.gov/vafo/.
National Park Service. "Yorktown Battlefield." https://www.nps.gov/colo/.
Central Intelligence Agency. Intelligence in the War of Independence. Center for the Study of Intelligence. Intelligence in the War of Independence - CIA.