The Colliers' novel focuses on the conflict between ideological issues and personal relationships; forced to choose between political convictions and family loyalties, the Meekers are exposed to potential tragedy on both private and public fronts. My Brother Sam Is Dead portrays the Revolutionary War as a civil war that divides families and communities. The authors show that war unleashes forces that result in unpredictable outcomes, and claims as its victims both those who fall in battle and those whose lives are torn apart by the physical and emotional upheaval.

Sam Meeker, a sixteen-year-old student at Yale University, believes that the rebel cause is just. Like many Yale students, he wants to join the militia.

Yet Sam fails to live up to the nobility of his ideals; lazy and fond of drinking and cursing, Sam dishonors the family—at least in his brother's eyes—with...