Andrew Lawler discusses his new book, “Perfect Frenzy: a Royal Governor, his Black Allies, and the Crisis That Spurred the American Revolution.” It is the story of the colony of Virginia on the eve of the American Revolution and Lord Dunmore, infamous British villain. But what is fact and what is fiction? Lord Dunmore issued the first Emancipation Proclamation and freed hundreds of slaves, but did he fire bomb Norfolk? What is certain is Dunmore ignited the passions of the Revolutionaries and gave promise of a free world to the enslaved.

Andrew Lawler is a journalist and author who has written about history, science, religion, and politics from dozens of countries.