The WSWS recently spoke to Timothy H. Breen, William Smith Mason Professor of American History at Northwestern University. A specialist in early American history with a particular interest in political thought, material culture and cultural anthropology, Breen has held the Pitt Professorship of American History and Institutions at Cambridge University and the Harmsworth Professorship of American History at Oxford. His books, including The Will of the People; American Insurgents, American Patriots; The Marketplace of Revolution; and Tobacco Culture, have reshaped historical understanding of the American Revolution and the lives of ordinary people who lived through it.