Fourteen short chapter studies profile a dozen British men and women, who, for diverse reasons, opposed the policy of the British government toward its thirteen colonies before and during the American Revolution and helped prepare the way for the recognition of the United States as an independent nation. Reich demonstrates how a mixture of political expediency, constitutional scruples, and a desire for reform at home led prominent politicians, economists, and leaders of public opinion to sympathize with the colonial point of view after 1776.