A riveting look at the domestic world of the Founding Fathers - their private lives, families, passions, culture, aspirations. When they declared independence in Philadelphia in 1776, they changed the course of Western history. But the patriots-a mix of landowners, merchants, and professionals- had private lives too, quite apart from the public personae presented in textbooks. In this breathtaking volume, historian Hugh Howard and photographer Roger Straus examine the everyday lives of the Founding Fathers. This book takes us on an eye-opening tour of 40 stately 18th-century houses. We see the mansions of such legendary figures as Jefferson, Washington, Adams, and Hamilton, along with the homes of many other signers of the Declaration of Independence or Constitution. With stops in each of the 13 colonies, the grand story of the Revolution emerges from individual domestic perspectives. These pages are peopled with the wives, children, servants, and slaves of the Founding Fathers. Homes overlooking the sea, in busy towns, or atop mountains reveal these patriots' tastes in architecture, furniture, and horticulture. The text is chock-full of fascinating historical details, from what George Washington ate for dinner to how Alexander Hamilton shopped for a bride. The result is a penetrating look at the private lives of the men whose ideas ignited an insurrection against England-and who helped create the modern world.