I just finished 1776 and I really enjoyed it. However, it ends, unsurprisingly, in 1776 and I want to read more! What can you guys recommend for a book on the Revolutionary War? I’d like something with an emphasis on the tactics used in battle, the conditions of the troops, the opinions and thoughts of the generals, and the opinions of Americans and Congress as to how the war was going. Oh, and good maps–one thing annoying about 1776 is the maps, though authentic, are hard to read and there are no modern maps. So I have to spend minutes trying to find where the armies are positioned for each attack.
Let me cast a vote for Barnet Schecter’s The Battle for New York.*
Not only is it wonderfully written, but it contains outstanding maps – some of the best I’ve ever seen in a history book. They have a real classic, olde-timey sensibility to them, but they are clean, uncluttered and instantly understood. Barney told me that he and the graphic artist took pains to get the maps just right. The effort shows.
- In the interests of full disclosure, I must admit that Barney is a pal of mine, and I’m listed in the acknowledgements. [smilie here]
You might like John Adams too, not entirely about the war, but fascinating.
If you’re into primary historical sources, I recommend The American Revolution: Writings from the War of Independence, published by the Library of America. It’s a chronological presentation of diary entries, public notices, governmental reports, and other documents that creates a “you are there” effect for the Revolutionary War. All of the “big ones” are there, such as Revere’s own account of his ride. However, the fact that it presents documents from both sides of the conflict, including British officers’ reports and diary entries from British loyalists, along with accounts of battles from common soldiers whose names would have been lost to history had they not kept journals, makes it all the more fascinating.
KlondikeGeoff’s recommendation of John Adams is seconded as well. It’s easily one of the better biographies I’ve read.
If you’re not already fairly well read on the subject of the Revolution I’d recommend George Washington’s War. It’s a very basic overview but it’s well written, has some great asides (such as interesting biographical information about some of the key figures on both sides), decent maps, written for a popular (rather than scholarly) audience but at the same time intelligently and with some style. (The author is a WW2 officer [still alive last I heard] who started writing popular histories of American wars when he retired and all of the ones I’ve read are really good.)
Walter Isaacson’s Benjamin Franklin is very good as well. Since Franklin was born in 1706 and was active in colonial politics (postmaster, colonial agent for several colonies, considered a native of both Boston and Philly [the two most important cities in the move for independence], etc.) in addition to a biography of a fascinating individual you get by association a good background to the 18th century affairs that culminated in the Revolution.
I think that Thomas Jefferson is long overdue for a definitive biography, someone with the insight of a McCullough and Isaacson who can amalgamate the legacy, the brilliance, the hypocrisy and all other aspects of the man who was so utterly captivating and fascinating but so terribly flawed at the same time. Hopefully when it’s done it will be somebody who addresses the scholarship and oral history of Sally Heming to the degree that it needs to be addressed, accepting it pretty much as a given (unlike the hagiographer Dumas Malone who would have sworn an affidavit Jefferson’s legitimate daughters were immaculately conceived) but doesn’t obsess or way overspeculate on it (as [to quote Gore Vidal] “the terrible and dread Fawn Brodie” did). Ideally it should have lots of color illustrations as Monticello, the inventions, the portraits, etc. are all vital to understanding the man.
I wish that a filmmaker would do for the Revolution what Ken Burns did for the Civil War. There are several documentaries available but the ones I’ve seen aren’t what you’d call riveting (especially Liberty!, which tries to be too artistic). One of the best is actually Ben Franklin, a well done bio of the man (it starts with him being electrocuted while trying to kill a turkey with a battery! actually happened). And of course the musical 1776 is a must- really! In spite of the singing/dancing, it’s one of the best movies ever made about the Revolution and is the one from which I learned (as a kid) that the Declaration of Independence was not a virgin birth and that most Americans didn’t want a war with Britain. Characterizations seem spot on (and if Ben Franklin and John Adams didn’t sound exactly like Howard da Silva and William Daniels then it was an oversight by God).