Redcoats and Rebels: The American Revolution Through British Eyes - Hardcover

Hibbert, Christopher

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 039302895X ISBN 13: 9780393028959

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 1990

Synopsis

A British history of the American Revolution chronicles the war as an effort marked by ragtag armies, accidental victories, sluggish policymakers, and selfish generals

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Reviews

YA-- The story of our struggle for independence from the Boston Tea Party to Cornwallis's surrender at Yorktown is among the most familiar in American history. The key events and personalities have been described in popular fiction, history, and movies. Hibbert's unusual and interesting book takes readers through the familiar chronology from the English point of view. The result deepens one's appreciation of the obstacles that faced the British in their attempts to maintain control of North America. Their strategy and tactics are especially understandable when presented in this context. The blunders of English decision-makers in both the government and the army are given the prominence they deserve. Sam Adams and George Washington appear briefly as their enemies saw them. British leaders appear as complete figures with both flaws and strengths. By providing the often overlooked side of an important and commonly told story, this book offers new insights and pleasurable reading.
- Paul Haskell, Edison High School, Alexandria, VA
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

British historian Hibbert's narrative of the War of Independence from the British and Loyalist viewpoint is lively, beautifully written and freshly informative. Tracing events from the colonists' unexpected outrage over the 1765 Stamp Act to the Treaty of Paris in 1783, he describes the bitter foreign policy debates in London and the escalating logistic difficulties of supporting a war in North America while conducting far-flung campaigns against the French and Spanish as well. In his evenhanded account of operations from Canada to the Carolinas, Hibbert analyzes British attempts to achieve a unified strategy against the rebels, and brings into focus the ideological confusion and political disunity that hampered the American cause throughout the eight-year struggle. The author lays more stress on French intervention in accounting for the ultimate American triumph than our historians are wont to do. He also points out that the 1781 battle of Coppens was one of the few times the Redcoats were tactically outwitted. Photos.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

This popular account of the American Revolution has many virtues. Hibbert is a proven writer of dramatic, personal history. An Englishman, he gives equal weight to the politics, policies, and personalities of the court of George III. He explains not just how America won its war for independence, but why Britain lost it. His stirring treatment of battles and marches is based on recent research that minimizes patriotic idealism, stressing instead the difficulties of maintaining a professional army in a republican society. All military and Revolution buffs will appreciate this well-written work--and they'll learn something new. --Harry W. Fritz, Univ. of Montana, Missoula
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Publication date: 1990
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 039302895X
• ISBN 13: 9780393028959
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 398