In 1788 a forceful pamphlet demanding a Bill of Rights circulated under the pseudonym A Columbian Patriot. For over a century historians credited a male politician, unable to imagine a woman had written it. The author was Mercy Otis Warren.

This deep dive explores how a self-taught intellectual who raised five sons used satire, propaganda, and history to help shape the American Revolution from private living rooms and anonymous writings, far outside the official halls of power.

• Absorbing a Harvard-level education by auditing her brothers' lessons at home
• Turning her Plymouth home into a rebel headquarters for the Sons of Liberty
• Satirical plays whose villain Rapatio damaged the real royal governor Thomas Hutchinson
• Gaining unprecedented access to war camps and generals as her husband served as paymaster ...