America is split over whether to break with Britain or to stay loyal to the Crown. Tensions escalate until a British force is sent out to confiscate an arms cache. They are expecting a riot; they get a revolution. The Americans triumph at Boston, forcing the British to withdraw.

Washington is forced out of New York. His army begins to desert him, until a daring raid across a frozen river gives him victory at Trenton. But the British still seem to be masters in this war, capturing the great Fort Ticonderoga.

The British open a new front in the southern colonies. They win a series of victories against American and French forces, and find a new army of recruits amongst former slaves. Thousands of African Americans join the British in the expectation of freedom. The war in the south is an untold story, the stuff of nightmares. It becomes a savage war of partisans, border raids and guerilla style skirmishing.

The British have enjoyed command of the sea, and with it the ability to move thousands of troops to wherever they are needed. But now an extraordinary naval blunder allows the French fleet to isolate a large British garrison at Yorktown. Surrender is inevitable, giving overall victory to Washington and his French allies. Those who have supported the British, the loyalists, thousands of African Americans and American Indians are left to the mercy of the new state.