The Fall Lyceum series WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA? presents the first in our six-part series.

How did a man who never held a commission in the Continental Army, had only one Military victory in the Revolutionary War, and tried to return Vermont to the British Empire become a Vermont icon and a inspire the U.S. Navy to name a submarine the USS Ethan Allen “because of his contributions to democracy?”

Speaker: Nick Muller is a retired professor of history, college president, historical society director, and foundation President and CEO. He has edited or authored six books and numerous scholarly and popular articles.  A specialist in Vermont’s past, Nick and his co-author John Duffy recently published Inventing Ethan Allen.  His newest book on UVM colleague and co-author Samuel B. Hand will appear this fall. He has begun work, with two others, on a ground-breaking book (he hopes) on early Vermont history.  Nick lives in the village of Essex and is active in numerous local organizations including the Essex Community Fund, Fort Ticonderoga, the North Country SPCA, the UVM Health Network and Elizabethtown Community Hospital.

$5 / students free