What was it like for George Washington and his troops as they crossed the Delaware River in a ferocious snowstorm late in the evening of Christmas Day 1776? How did sixteen-year-old Sybil Ludington rally her father's militia to battle the British? What did Peter Brown do as cannon fire exploded all about him during the Battle of Bunker Hill? How did James Armistead, a slave in Virginia, spy for Lafayette and the Americans during the Revolution and win his freedom?

These are only some of the people you will read about in "Victory or Death! "Stories of the American Revolution. Doreen Rappaport and Joan Verniero vividly transport readers to the years of the American Revolution through the actions of real people -- some famous and others not yet known. These stories provide inspiring and riveting glimpses into the lives of people who took part in the fight for independence -- on the battlefield and off.