Shalev (history, Haifa U.) contends that the political choices and claims made by American revolutionaries in the 18th century can only be understood by recognizing that they found the ancient Mediterranean world as vivid and recognizable as the one they lived in. He discusses such aspects as the British Empire in the revolutionary classical imagination, the varieties of historical consciousness, American patriots performing antiquity, and classical pseudonyms and the ratification of the federal constitution. Annotation ©2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)