This book describes the phenomena of "Greek fire" or "Greek fever," i.e. the groundswell of American support for the Greeks fighting to overthrow the Ottoman yoke and for their freedom. This arguably was America"s first great overseas project that aroused widespread support in the country; in the interval debate that took place in Washington about what the official U.S. reaction should be, the view of Secretary of State John Quincy Adams prevailed, with its echoes still valid today, i.e. however elevated the cause of Greece, the "sister republic," it is not in the interest of the of this country to seek to slay dragons abroad, "however scared the cause." In this context the editor presents a collection of contemporary official and unofficial documents outlining the various and different levels of support in the United States, for the Greeks. Finally, the book also includes and a series of essays that provide a historical context for the American response in support of the Greeks, and the afterlife of the Philhellenic idea in the United States.