Posted on 11/11/2004 11:00:39 AM PST by 68skylark
The past decade or so has seen an explosion of titles about World War II. The Civil War, of course, has been keeping publishers busy for almost a century and a half. But the conflict without which the others would not have been possible--the American Revolution--seems a poor stepchild.
We are oddly uncurious about the military side of the war that made us a nation. While the founders are an inexhaustible seam of rich ore that biographers ceaselessly and productively mine, the battles, the generals and, especially, the soldiers dwell for the most part in literary obscurity.
Except, that is, in the works of Richard Ketchum, whose latest volume, "Victory at Yorktown" (Henry Holt & Co.), came out last month. It is Mr. Ketchum's fifth narrative of the Revolution. He began writing about the war in the '50s, when he produced "Decisive Day: The Battle for Bunker Hill." And, from there, he went on to write "The Winter Soldiers: The Battles for Trenton and Princeton," "Saratoga: Turning Point of America's Revolutionary War" and "Divided Loyalties: How the American Revolution Came to New York."
He also edited "The American Heritage Book of the Revolution," and it was this undertaking, back in 1957, that got him started on what has become his life's work.
Mr. Ketchum was a young magazine editor, back from his own war--he commanded a sub-chaser in the South Atlantic--and his colleague at American Heritage was the Civil War historian Bruce Catton. Mr. Catton edited the magazine, and Mr. Ketchum worked the book side of the operation. "We divided up American history, and I got the short straw," Mr. Ketchum says over lunch in Dorset, Vt., where he has lived, on and off, for almost 60 years.
(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ...
I bought this book for my husband for Christmas. We went to Yorktown recently and really enjoyed it.
BTTT
"I'm not uncurious about the military histroy of the U. S. revolution"
Me neither. I fondly recall reading of the trials and heroism of Daniel Morgan, Francis Marion, GW, and others when I was a kid. Good summer reading.
ping
Maybe the lack of interest is due to the lack of spectacular victories. With the notable exception of Yorktown, most American Revolution battles are either purely moral victories (Bunker Hill, Lexington) or humiliating defeats (Camden, Brandywine, Harlem). The turning point of the war at Saratoga didn't star The Father of Our Country, but instead our most notorious traitor (Arnold) and the future goat of Camden (Gates). Washington's main achievement was keeping an army in the field, with some semblance of supply. Reading about his battles to procure food, uniforms, new recruits, and finances is not quite as stirring as storming the beach at Normandy.
I, too, enjoy reading about the Revolution.
I am very surprised how few sites there are online that cover the battles in depth. Many sites are for kids, contrain truncated versions of the events or are just facile renditions.
This may be due to the fact that unlike the Civil War which was well documented,written about extensively by the participants, had official archives created and preserved, the Revolution has very little of tha kind of information.
You ought to learn to proof better, dingus!
Jeff Sharra's two books about the Revolutionary period are superb. They left me wanting more. Unfortunately, I think Glorious Cause may be his last work about that period.
Dont be so tough on the guy....he's improving at a reasonble rate...given his age
:)
Dont be so tough on the guy....he's improving at a reasonble rate...given his age
:)
You make some great points.
Nah -- if you do that you'll just make the rest of us look bad.
"Saratoga: Turning Point of America's Revolutionary War"
I highly recommend this book.
Very well written and will peak your interest in this subject!
My Family fought at Saratoga, Revolution, NY State Militia, such as it was, and Plattsberg Landing during the War of 1812. I was disappointed at Plattsberg that there were no Rangers to explain the course of the Battle, no maps, and no literature. Some nice bronze work but nothing to define the battle. These citizens and Regulars defeated Wellingtons troops for Christs sake.
You can't get a much more spectacular victory than the Crossing of the Delaware and the Battle of Trenton, New Jersey. Incredible odds..... a daring plan by Washington..... human suffering.... fateful intervention.
Trenton was the true turning point of the war. 24 hours before the battle, the war was by all accounts lost, within days after it, the whole strategic and tactical situation had changed in favor of the American cause. If it were not for Trenton, there never would have been a Saratoga or a Yorktown.
An old friend of mine once pointed out that factual accounts of historical events don't really last more than five or six generations. This corresponds to the period in which personal anecdotes can be passed down between the historical event in question and the present time, with no "break" in the personal contacts in between.
For example . . .
Abraham Lincoln died more than 100 years before I was born, yet there is still a potential "personal contact" between the 1860s and 2004 -- because it would have been hypothetically possible for my grandfather and his grandchildren to interact at some point in their lives. Any personal anecdotes passed from Lincoln to his grandchildren, and then on to my grandfather, could be accepted as true with some reasonable degree of certainty because one of the "intermediaries" had direct, personal contact with the original historical figure and the other had direct, personal contact with the current era (me).
Once you get beyond this point in time, the reliability of historical information starts to diminish considerably.
"For anyone who'd like to learn more about the American Revolution, but consider historical books dry and boring, I always recommend Rise to Rebellion by Jeff Sharra. It's a novel, but all of the characters were real people and much of the dialogue is documented. Sharra's research is impeccable."
Known as historical fiction. James Michener, Leon Uris, many other writers use this form.
I never enjoyed history from plain old textbood style, but when I discovered historical fiction, I devoured it.
One writer wrote 31 books about the American west. Terry C. Johnston.
16 books about the American Plains Indian Wars (Plainsmen series)
9 books about the trappers (Titus Bass)
3 books about Custer
3 books about Confederate vet living the rest of his life out west (Jonah Hook)
24 down and 7 to go
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