P.S. The cherry tree story is not true...he actually killed his mother's favorite colt horsing around with the guys.
You need to get into history books AT LEAST prior to WWII.
While the Jumonville event has certainly been recounted many times over, who fired first and whether willful or accidental on the colonials’ part is still open to debate.
Of course I haven't read this book...but the Jumonville event is very well documented many times over.
Ummm...nobody is denying that. As the reviewer states, the author is supported by the evidence in those descriptions.
Your post doesn't make sense to me. The review doesn't take issue with those things; I likewise don't. What's at issue are the other aspects of the book, where he extends beyond evidence and uses edited sources rather than originals--and you tell us that it isn't a hatchet job. Okay....why? Because the evidence would support him anyway? Because it the snarky comments are helpful to understand context? I wonder why you believe what you expressed.
Then you write that you haven't read the book that you said isn't a hatchet job...?!?
Are you just going by the examples given in the review? And if so, why don't you think they are part of a hatchet job?
I'm so confused.
You need to get into history books AT LEAST prior to WWII.
Heck, you can go back to before the War of 1812 and still stumble into the ordure of distortions and revisionism. In fact, Washington's excellent Valley Forge propaganda was the source for the War of 1812 propaganda on the same topic.
And though I believe Wirt's reconstruction attempt for "Liberty or Death" was in good faith, we know it's not perfect, for example.
But despite that, later scholarship can add to understanding. Few had heard of The Battle of the Clouds when I was writing about it 15-20 years ago, and I had probably published more pieces on it than anyone. Since, there has been increased interest, further research, and better understanding. And now, there's even a municipal park named after it! Writing about it would be so much easier now, and it would be crazy to reference things I published then rather than using the expanded information available now.