Revolution by Fire: New York’s Afro-Irish Uprising of 1741, a Graphic Novel

Based on the little known real life ＂Slave Insurrection＂ of 1741, this book imagines outlaw fugitive John Gwin and an eclectic crew of renegades as they attempt to disrupt and overthrow the colonial social order

Rebel fugitive John Gwin was previously introduced in Under the Banner of King Death and this graphic novel continues his adventures. Revolution by Fire is a hypothetical look at the inner workings of the so called ＂New York Conspiracy＂ or ＂Slave Rebellion＂ of 1741, following the figures who were considered the real-life masterminds of the plot.

Featuring an eclectic crew of African-American, Irish, and mixed race Hispanic sailors, soldiers, and renegades, Gwin and his band are determined to capture New York City in their own names and fight the higher class ＂wigs and ruffles＂ wearing white people. Unfortunately for the conspirators, suspicions about an uprising were already in the minds of the Governor and his fellow elites, and the events that followed change the course of everyone’s lives forever.

Based on the chapter titled ＂Outcasts of the Nations of the Earth＂ in Rediker’s and Peter Linebaugh’s The Many-Headed Hydra: Sailors, Slaves, Commoners, and the Hidden History of the Revolutionary Atlantic, the bookprovides a fly-on-the-wall view of a historical event reimagined, highlighting cooperation among races and classes that transcends the social order of its time--and inspire us today.

Marcus Rediker is Distinguished Professor of Atlantic History at the University of Pittsburgh. He is the author of several books including The Amistad Rebellion (Viking 2012) and The Many-Headed Hydra: Sailors, Slaves, Commoners, and the Hidden History of the Revolutionary Atlantic (Beacon 2000). He worked with David Lester and Paul Buhle to adapt his book The Fearless Benjamin Lay (2017) into Prophet Against Slavery: Benjamin Lay, a Graphic Novel (Beacon, 2021) and Villains of All Nations into Under the Banner of King Death: Pirates of the Atlantic, a Graphic Novel (Beacon 2023).

David Lester illustrated the award-winning 1919: A Graphic History of the Winnipeg General Strike. He illustrated Prophet against Slavery: Benjamin Lay, a Graphic Novel (Beacon, 2021) and Villains of All Nations into Under the Banner of King Death: Pirates of the Atlantic, a Graphic Novel (Beacon 2023). He is the guitarist in the rock duo Mecca Normal.

Paul Buhle is retired Senior Lecturer at Brown University and the authorized biographer of Pan African giant C.L.R. James. He has edited over a dozen nonfiction graphic novels, including Studs Terkel’s Working and A Peoples’ History of the American Empire (an adaptation of Zinn). He worked with David Lester and Marcus Rediker to produce Prophet Against Slavery: Benjamin Lay, a Graphic Novel (Beacon 2021) and Under the Banner of King Death: Pirates of the Atlantic, a Graphic Novel (Beacon 2023). Buhle lives in Providence, Rhode Island.