A Few Lawless Vagabonds

The land we now call Vermont was once claimed by the British Crown, the New York colony, the New Hampshire colony, the Connecticut colony and by the frontiersmen and settlers that built homes in the area. A Few Lawless Vagabonds is the story of how the state of Vermont was carved out of that chaos of conflicting claims. Central to this story is Ethan Allen and, by extension, his brothers and other settlers. They managed to play the stronger powers against each other to make an independent state, the fourteenth; although by doing so they open themselves to charges of collusion with Great Britain after the end of the Revolutionary War; even founding, briefly, an independent Republic. This is a very scholarly book. The author follows several paths of discussion of other historians and biographers; listing their evidence and theories before presenting his own conclusions. A major theme is whether the motivation behind the actions is patriotic, Tory or just self-serving. The history is covered closely and well, it is easy to be swept up in the fervor of the times. I recommend this book to those who want to know much more about a little known but interesting facet of our early nation.