On the eve of America's 250th anniversary, popular British historian Lucy Worsley investigates the sabotage, espionage, and unrest that led to the birth of a new nation. In 1776, 13 American colonies declared independence from one of the most powerful empires in the world, igniting a bloody eight-year war that claimed thousands of lives and ended in Britain's humiliating defeat. But how did this historic rupture come to pass, and could it have been avoided? Over two episodes, Lucy delves deeper into the American Revolution by examining it from the British perspective, discovering the human drama, radical ideas, and political missteps behind this seismic split, and revealing how losing America changed Britain forever.