Revolutionary War

The Cause: The American Revolution and its Discontents, 1773-1783 (Hardcover)

By Joseph J. Ellis, Ph.D.

$30.00

ISBN: 9781631498985

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Published: Liveright - September 21st, 2021

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This is a well-written, quick read given the scope of the complex history and the years it covers. Ellis cuts through the mythology of the Revolutionary War (referred to at the time as The Cause), to unveil the thinking and actions of the founders who somehow came together to form this most imperfect Republic. He is quick to point out the contradiction of these "United States" who often found it difficult to turn away from regional priorities to join a larger cause, and who also allowed the original sin of slavery to fall like a shadow on every decision they made. A refreshingly honest look at the characters and circumstances that made this nation, and how that drama continues today. ~ Reviewed by Allen Boulet

The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775-1777 (The Revolution Trilogy #1) (Paperback)

By Rick Atkinson

$18.99

ISBN: 9781250231321

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Published: Holt Paperbacks - April 7th, 2020

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This book is a masterpiece as bold and cunning as Washington’s Christmastime attack across the Delaware. Drama, intrigue, and a cast of surprisingly colorful characters abound in this battle-by-battle recounting of the early years of the War for Independence. The British Are Coming honestly reads like Game of Thrones-just with less dragons and more tricorn hats-as political rivalries, bloody feuds, and massive set-piece style battles engulf the American colonies from Quebec to the Carolinas and everywhere in between.

With so much at stake, every shot holds immense importance, and Atkinson drives that point home, emphasizing not only the significance of the war but also the tragic cost in both lives and matériel. Never in my life have I worried so much about firewood and rope, let alone those darn gunpowder kegs that Congress could never supply enough of. To think this is only the first book in his trilogy. My heart can’t take any more supply shortages.

In summary-despite the reader knowing exactly how the story ends The British Are Coming turns the Revolutionary War into nothing short of a riveting page-turner. ~ Reviewed by Patrick Molluso

The Tragedy of Benedict Arnold: An American Life (Hardcover)

By Joyce Lee Malcolm

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ISBN: 9781681777375

Availability: Out of Print

Published: Pegasus Books - May 1st, 2018

Benedict Arnold: brilliant military commander, shrewd businessman, accomplished sailor, and generous benefactor, is remembered only as America's most famous traitor. Malcolm frames Arnold's adventures within the wild, violent, and highly uncertain War of Independence, where envy, jealousy, political pettiness and micromanagement demoralized Arnold to the point where switching sides, to him, became the noble course of action. ~ Reviewed by Mike Hare

Revolution Song: A Story of American Freedom (Hardcover)

By Russell Shorto

$28.95

ISBN: 9780393245547

Availability: Special Order

Published: W. W. Norton & Company - November 7th, 2017

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America's creation from six diverse perspectives: African-born slave, Albany bureaucrat, Iroquois leader, British politician, well-bred young woman, and George Washington. Their noble acts and blinkered decisions, missteps and triumphs, grievances, ambitions, and failures frame the Revolution in personal terms. And Washington, in Shorto's hands, emerges not as a plaster saint, but as a starkly human, and often flawed American. ~ Reviewed by Mike Hare

Scars of Independence: America's Violent Birth (Hardcover)

By Holger Hoock

$30.00
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ISBN: 9780804137287

Published: Crown - May 9th, 2017

Textbook accounts of the American Revolution as a high-minded, relatively bloodless quest for freedom are smashed in Scars of Independence. Terrors infecting the globe today are not too far a stretch from the abhorrent physical, psychological, and deadly brutalities practiced by both sides before, during, and immediately after the Revolution. ~ Reviewed by Mike Hare

1777: Tipping Point at Saratoga (Hardcover)

By Dean Snow

$37.99

ISBN: 9780190618759

Availability: IN WAREHOUSE - Usually Ships in 3-7 Business Days

Published: Oxford University Press, USA - October 11th, 2016

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An hour-by-hour account of the Battle of Saratoga, 1777 places readers in its 33-day whirlwind of combat, strategies, blunders, and triumphs. Expert storytelling and meticulous research illuminate rash Benedict Arnold, champagne-sipping John Burgoyne, officers, enlisted men, and families. 1777 presents a realistic and sympathetic retelling of the Battle that made America. ~ Reviewed by Mike Hare