Benjamin Quarles's The Negro in the American Revolution was a groundbreaking study when it appeared in 1961, recovering the stories of African Americans who fought on both sides of the Revolutionary War. Quarles, a pioneering Black historian, traces how enslaved and free Black Americans responded to the conflict's promises of liberty, some fighting for independence in hopes of gaining freedom, others accepting British offers of liberation in exchange for military service. The book examines Black soldiers in the Continental Army and Navy, Black loyalists who evacuated with the British, and the diplomatic complications that ensued. Quarles also addresses the Revolution's ideological impact, showing how the rhetoric of natural rights created pressure, however partial and delayed, for abolition in the North. The book is balanced and carefully researched, drawing on primary sources that white historians had overlooked. Quarles writes clearly and accessibly, making complex events comprehensible. The Negro in the American Revolution remains an essential text, foundational to subsequent scholarship on race and the Revolution. Essential reading for anyone seeking a complete picture of the American founding and the role of African Americans in shaping it.