From acclaimed historian John Ferling, the story of Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, and James Monroe's involvement in the American and French Revolutions and their quest for sweeping change in both America and Europe.

Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, and James Monroe hazarded all in quest of revolutions. As founding fathers, they risked their lives and their liberty for American independence, and as reformers, each rejoiced at the opportunity to be part of the French Revolution, praying that it in turn would inspire others to sweep away Europe's monarchies and titled nobilities.

For these three men, real revolution would lead to substantive political and social alterations and an escape from royal and aristatic rule. But as the eighteenth century unfolded, these three separated onto different routes to revolution-two became soldiers, two became writers, and two became statesmen-and their united cause but divided means reshaped their country and the...