Holger Hoock makes it clear that he does not have a stake in American history (as he is a german man). He has a fresh outlook on American history because he did not grow up with nationalistic American myths. Hoock wants to shed light on the shared anglo-history and myths on both the US and British sides. He wants to write violence back into the story of the American revolution so that readers can really understand it. Violence is his central analytical and narrative focus. Experiences of violence came in many forms - physical, emotional, and intellectual. For political and military violence he only focuses on key dynamic points in history. Hoock's narrative is looking at all sides of the war - Colonists, Loyalists, Indigenous, and Black.

Death rate statistics are shocking (if I remember correctly is one of THE most violent wars that the USA participated in.) By understanding how violence relates to nation-building is critical to understanding the creation of America. Children were picking up skeletal parts up until the 1840s in certain areas in the US. After the war, vets were used to showing the cruelty of the British - helping perpetuate the narrative that the British were solely evil. War showed that propaganda worked well. Facing the truth that both sides were equally evil and violent to each other will allow for frank reflection on America's birth. Hoock also says racial injustice is set in the founding of America, as does Robert G. Parkinson. The American Revolution gave the US a blueprint on how to suppress violence in America and how to treat Indigenous people and their land.