An Evening with Andrew Lawler: A Perfect Frenzy

Duck’s Cottage and the Town of Duck are pleased to present a very special evening featuring NYT best-selling author Andrew Lawler (Under Jerusalem, The Secret Token, Why Did the Chicken Cross the World) in conversation about his brand new release A Perfect Frenzy: A Royal Governor, his Black Allies and the Crisis that Spurred the American Revolution. Lawler is an engaging speaker who leaves audiences captivated and ready to dive deep into his books. The Secret Token: Myth, Obsession and the Search for the Lost Colony of Roanoke has been one of the best-selling books at Duck’s Cottage and Downtown Books since its release in 2018. Andrew visited the Outer Banks in 2021 for the release of his book Under Jerusalem and once again thoroughly entertained audiences with a presentation on the history of the world’s most contested city.

About A Perfect Frenzy “From the nationally bestselling author of The Secret Token, the largely untold story of rebellion in Virginia that will forever change one’s understanding of the American Revolution. As the American Revolution broke out in New England in the spring of 1775 dramatic events unfolded in Virginia that proved every bit as decisive as the battles of Lexington and Concord and Bunker Hill in uniting the colonies against Britain. Virginia, the largest, wealthiest, and most populous province in British North America was led by Lord Dunmore, who counted George Washington as his close friend. But the Scottish earl lacked troops, so when patriots imperiled the capital of Williamsburg, he threatened to free and arm enslaved Africans-two of every five Virginians-to fight for the Crown. Virginia’s tobacco elite was reluctant to go to war with Britain but was outraged at this threat to their human property. Dunmore fled the capital to build a stronghold in the colony’s largest city, the port of Norfolk. As enslaved people flocked to his camp, skirmishes broke out. “Lord Dunmore has commenced hostilities in Virginia,” wrote Thomas Jefferson. “It has raised our countrymen into a perfect frenzy.” With a patriot army marching on Norfolk, the royal governor freed those enslaved and sent them into battle against their former owners. In retribution, and with Jefferson’s encouragement, furious rebels burned Norfolk to the ground on January 1, 1776, blaming the crime on Dunmore. The port’s destruction and Dunmore’s emancipation prompted Virginia’s patriot leaders to urge the Continental Congress to split from Britain, breaking the deadlock among the colonies and leading to adoption of the Declaration of Independence. Days later, Dunmore and his Black allies withdrew from Virginia, but the legacy of their fight would lead, ultimately, to Abraham Lincoln’s 1863 Emancipation Proclamation. Chronicling these stunning and widely overlooked events in full for the first time, A Perfect Frenzy offers a striking new perspective on the American Revolution that reorients our understanding of its causes, highlights the radically different motivations between patriots in the North and South, and reveals the seeds of today’s racial divide”

Andrew will be offering a multi-media presentation and discussion of his book, taking questions from the the audience and signing copies of A Perfect Frenzy on Tuesday, February 4 at 6pm in the Paul F. Keller Meeting Hall on the Town of Duck campus.

“A riveting and illuminating account of a pivotal episode in American history – a polished gem of a book.”
–David Zucchino, Pulitzer Prize winner and author of Wilmington’s Lie
“Andrew Lawler finds fresh voices and novel ways of looking at the start of the Revolution—and, best of all, he offers the historian’s holy grail of an original argument.”
–Woody Holton, author of Liberty is Sweet
“Elegantly written and impeccably researched, this pathbreaking book is a gift this troubled nation needs as it approaches its 250th anniversary.”
–Gerald Horne, author of The Counter-Revolution of 1776

Andrew Lawler is a journalist and author who has written about history, science, religion, and politics from dozens of countries. Andrew’s byline has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, National Geographic, Smithsonian, and many other publications. He is a contributing writer for Science and contributing editor for Archaeology, as well as a National Geographic Explorer and a Pulitzer Center grantee. His work has won a number of journalism awards, and appeared several times in The Best of Science and Nature Writing. He is author of four books: A Perfect Frenzy: A Royal Governor, His Black Allies, and the Crisis That Spurred the American Revolution; The prize-winning Under Jerusalem: The Buried History of the World’s Most Contested City; the national bestseller The Secret Token: Myth, Obsession, and the Search for the Lost Colony of Roanoke and the acclaimed Why Did The Chicken Cross The World: The Epic Saga Of The Bird That Powers Civilization.