author

James Francis Barrett

1888–1934

A little-known early 20th-century writer, he is remembered for a historical novel that brings the American Revolution to life through the divided loyalties of the era. His work has stayed in circulation through library catalogs, public-domain archives, and audiobook editions.

1 Audiobook

The Loyalist A Story of the American Revolution

The Loyalist A Story of the American Revolution

by James Francis Barrett

About the author

Born in 1888 and deceased in 1934, James Francis Barrett is the credited author of The Loyalist: A Story of the American Revolution, a novel published in 1920. Library of Congress, Open Library, HathiTrust, and Project Gutenberg records all attribute the book to him, and public-domain editions have helped keep it available for modern readers.

The Loyalist is a work of historical fiction set during the American Revolution, centering on the conflict between loyalty to Britain and support for American independence. The novel's continued presence in public-domain collections suggests that Barrett's reputation today rests mainly on this book.

Reliable biographical details about his life beyond his birth and death years are scarce in the sources reviewed, so much of his personal story remains hard to trace. Even so, his surviving work offers a window into how early 20th-century writers revisited the Revolutionary era for later generations.