About How the World Made the American Revolution
Marking the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, The Eccles Institute for the Americas presents a conversation between Tom Holland, co-host of Podcast of the year 2025, The Rest is History, and American historian, Sarah Pearsall Professor of History at Johns Hopkins University.
Sarah Pearsall ground-breaking new book, Freedom Round the Globe: How the World Made the American Revolution boldly reframes this pivotal period in history, going beyond how the Revolution transformed the wider world, to examine how global events and individuals shaped the Revolution itself.
From Kolkata in India, to Anomabu in Ghana and Bkejwanong in Canada, her research uncovers surprising figures – leaders, diplomats, traders, mothers, and communities – whose actions influenced the course of events in North America.
Together, Tom and Sarah delve into these global stories, the research behind them, and how they reshape our understanding of a world in motion at the birth of a new nation.
The event will be recorded for The Rest is History Club members.
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Tom Holland
Tom Holland is an award-winning historian, translator and broadcaster.
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His most recent book, Pax, covers the heyday of the Roman Empire. He has translated Herodotus and Suetonius for Penguin Classics. He is co-presenter of the world’s most popular history podcast, The Rest is History, which in 2025 was Apple’s Podcast of the Year. He has written and presented several TV documentaries, on subjects ranging from the Islamic State to dinosaurs. He is a trustee of the British Library and the British Museum, an honorary fellow of Queens’ College, Cambridge, a lay canon of Salisbury Cathedral, the Bede Librarian at Durham Cathedral, and has been described in The Times as 'a leading English cricketer'.
Sarah M.S. Pearsall
Sarah M.S. Pearsall is a Professor of History at Johns Hopkins University and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.
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Educated at Yale, Cambridge, and Harvard, she is an award-winning author of Atlantic Families and Polygamy: An Early American History. Formerly a longtime faculty member at Cambridge, her acclaimed scholarship on gender and family has been supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the British Academy.
Venue and bar opening times
This event will take place in the British Library Knowledge Centre and is also available to watch online. Tickets may be booked to attend in person, or to watch online.
If you are attending in person, please note that the Knowledge Centre and the bar will be open from 18.00.
Please arrive no later than 15 minutes before the start time of this event. If you have specific access requirements please email customer@bl.uk
Attending the event online
If you book an online ticket, you will receive the viewing link on the morning of the event. You can either watch the event live or during the next 14 days on catch up.
Concessions
There are a range of concessions available. These include discounts for British Library Members, Young Persons (16 – 25s), and visitors on Universal/Pension Credit and free entry for carers.
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