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Searching... Willamina Public Library | 973.3 TUCHMAN | Searching... Unknown |
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Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
In this brilliant slice of American Revolutionary history, Tuchman ( A Distant Mirror , The Guns of August ) pits the 13 colonies against a rogues' gallery of British fools. We meet looting English admiral George Rodney who confiscated British-owned property and expelled the Jews after seizing the neutral isle of St. Eustatius, the chief West Indies depot in the transatlantic trade. British Governor Tryon of New York waged a terrorist campaign of murder, arson and plunder against Connecticut citizens in 1779, fanning the flames of rebellion. The British command was fractured by the hatred between neurotic commander-in-chief Sir Henry Clinton and Lord Cornwallis, who disdained to make war on a tattered colonial militia. On the American side, the will to fight was exemplified by men like Reverend Naphtali Daggett, ex-president of Yale, a defiant old soldier on horseback. Expertly weaving political and military history, Tuchman lets you feel how Washington's victory at Yorktown sent shock-waves around the globe. Photos. 160,000 first printing; BOMC main selection. (October) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
With her usual grace and sweep, the author of A Distant Mirror, The Proud Tower, and The Guns of August describes the American Revolution from the European point of view. Tuchman's great talent, the gift that distinguishes her from so many otherwise capable historians, is her ability to write history as intellectual narrative, to weave dense, interlocking facts into an ever-growing framework that is not necessarily chronological but which always ends up precisely where it is supposed to go. In this case, the goal is the Battle of Yorktown, which Tuchman considers the decisive conclusion of events rooted as deeply in international problems in Europe as in relations between Great Britain and her colonies: the Dutch and English trade wars, hostilities between England and France, political conflicts in England, the condition of the English nàvy in the 18th century. Concentrating in the first half of her book almost exclusively on the European side of things, Tuchman describes three non-Americans--English Admiral Sir George Brydges Rodney, English General Lord Cornwallis, and French Admiral de Grasse--who were at least as influential on the final outcome of the Revolution as the Founding Fathers. The result, as she moves on to describe Washington's 500-mile march from New York to Virginia and the Battle of Yorktown, is American history seen from the outside in--a fresh and ultimately dazzling perspective whose skillful arrangement is matched only by the sure scholarship on which it is based. Another winner from Tuchman--superbly readable, thoroughly researched. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Choice Review
The first salute to the colors of the US came at the small Dutch island of St. Eustatius, an island that continued to supply the Continentals with invaluable military supplies. That event serves as a vehicle for Tuchman's comparison of the Dutch struggle for independence from Spain with the American struggle for liberty from Britain. The intervention of the French--at first covert and then open--made this an international war. Much of the credit for the success of the American Revolution must go to the French, but British mistakes and indecision were also strong factors. Tuchman's protagonists are four men: Admiral Rodney (British), Admiral de Gresse (French), General Cornwallis (British), and of course General Washington. In a sense, this book is a series of essays melded into an interpretive account of the Revolution as a whole. Military aspects of the war are not neglected, especially the spectacular march from New York to Yorktown (comparable, she says, to Hannibal's decision to cross the Alps by elephant). Tuchman writes with style and wit. Here is a book that can give great pleasure to undergraduates, general readers, or history buffs. Graduate students and faculty will also profit. -C. R. Allen, Jr., Widener University
Library Journal Review
Tuchman's trademarks are here: trenchant observations and an exciting climax, in this case when Washington and Corwallis meet at Yorktown. But this work is not her best. The narration is loosely structured and at times repetitious; the chronology is sometimes confusing. In her first venture into American history, the popular historian highlights military and diplomatic turning points of the Revolution, focusing on European participation and its impact on the politics of the Dutch, French, and English. Despite its drawbacks, most libraries will want this Pulitzer Prize-winner's latest. BOMC main selection. Nancy C. Cridland, Indiana Univ. Libs., Bloomington (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.