I love finding new ways to share 18^th century history with people, and when I find someone else doing it (and doing it well) I love to point them out. Tamara ‘Meezer’ Clarke is an incredibly talented writer and illustrator with a unique way of bringing history to life. She has created an educational, episodic, online, graphic novel of pre-Revolution Boston that is stunningly accurate in its visual details. That was a lot to take in--let’s bullet point it.

-Yes it is educational.

-Yes it is an online story.

-Yes it is a graphic novel.

-Yes it is accurate--probably the most historically accurate catalog of British uniform images online. 

-Yes it is free (but we highly recommend supporting the work through online donation).

    Now I have to tell you up front that the conflict is told primarily from a Tory/Loyalist/British point of view. Meezer is a Canadian, and her perspective is that of a person whose own country was really born out of the Revolutionary conflict along with the United States. The population of Canada more than doubled at the end of the Revolutionary war as Loyalists and others resettled north. The British and Tory characters that Meezer has created speak and think as people would have then. They view the colonials as dishonest, disloyal and ungrateful, so don’t expect any High Sons of Liberty speeches here. Do expect a vivid picture of the growing tensions in 1770’s Boston.

    There is one other small detail I should mention about this great gift that Meezer has offered out of her talent, time and passion. The characters are all cats. Really. Yes I mean the furry, adorable, parasitic, and sometimes-spooky domesticated felines you are thinking of. If you are a cat lover and a history lover, this is possibly the best of all worlds for you.

     I highly recommend Loyalty and Liberty, the Powder Alarm. If you don’t like it you don’t have to pay a thing, but if you find yourself (as I did) amazed by the talent and time put into this series you can donate to support it. It is considered a PG-13 story, so read it before you let your kids at it and keep your Patriot filters in to avoid being converted by those bloody Tory cats.

You can find the book at http://loyaltyliberty.com/?p=4 or visit the main page at http://loyaltyliberty.com/

Loyalty and Liberty is self published on the net.

Reviewed by Dan Shippey    Breed's Hill Institute     September 2009