Vienna250 Author Talk: Derek Baxter

Fairfax author Derek Baxter presents his new book The Forgotten World War

Bards Alley is delighted to join the Vienna250 Committee in commemorating the 250th birthday of the United States this year with a special series of author talks. On Sunday, May 31, we welcome local author Derek Baxter to the Vienna Community Center for a discussion of his latest book!

The Forgotten World War: Exploring the Secret History of the American Revolution, from Spain to India and Back Again reframes the Revolutionary War as a global conflict. It follows Baxter on a continent-spanning journey that reveals how people across borders and oceans contributed to the American fight for independence.

The book comes out May 26 and can be preordered through Bards Alley by calling (571) 459-2653. We will also have copies available for purchase at the event. Baxter will stay for a book signing after his presentation.

Attendance is free and does not require registration. For more information on this author series and other Vienna250 events, visit historicviennainc.org/

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Derek Baxter is the author of In Pursuit of Jefferson. He graduated from the University of Virginia with a degree in history and is a lawyer in the Founding Father’s home state. You can follow his adventures with Thomas Jefferson at jeffersontravels.com

ABOUT THE BOOK

Forget the Liberty Bell: if you want to truly understand the American Revolution, get a passport and visit the hills of Andalucia, the lagoons of the Yucatan, and the palaces of south India. In The Forgotten World War, Derek Baxter embarks on an adventure-filled quest across four continents to uncover the story of how Americans really won our independence. He discovers how the fighting in the U.S. was only one theater of a much broader conflict, in which an unlikely group of nations banded together to take on the mighty British Empire.

On the windswept island of Jersey in the English Channel, he finds out how France attempted a full-scale invasion. At an unlikely Fourth of July party in Spain, he helps the descendent of a renowned Spanish general make a giant paella In India, he investigates one of the greatest victories of the Revolutionary War, when an army five times as large as any that Washington ever put in the field (and with considerably more elephants) annihilated the Redcoats.

Baxter finds the human stories behind this long-ago conflict—sometimes with surprising results. The Forgotten World War delivers a powerful message, right in time for our nation’s 250th anniversary. America began only when peoples of different races, languages, and religions overcame mistrust and came together.