.I have finally reached the end of my quest to learn about the events of the AWI
.not that Ive actually given up reading books on the subject
..any future AWI books will be to sharpen up on the finer detail
the last official book in my pile was:- After Yorktown The Final Struggle for American Independence by Don Glickstein
a revelation for one who previously thought that the affair ended with Yorktown
.
After Yorktown is a wonderfully engaging collection of short chapters covering a multitude of AWI events spread out across the globe
.from the final (un)civil conflicts in the South and the vicious actions along the Frontier, to battles in the Caribbean, to Gibraltar, and then the last AWI related battle in far off India between the American allies and the British
..not simply a colonial conflict, it was truly a global conflict
.
Definitely a recommend read
.
.I also found time today (a dreich day) to read:- The West Point History of the American Revolution
.released quite recently
..the book itself is profusely illustrated with lots of colourful images and maps
..a nice enough basic overview on the subject (when compared to the more detailed books that I have read)
more of a coffee table kind of book
.it does have approx. 30 pages of notes that provide a good list of more books to read
.
Have you read,
British Soldiers, American War: Voices of the American Revolution
The War of Independence: The British Army in North America, 1775-1783
Sir John Fortescue's The Trying of Souls: the British Army during the American War of Independence
Those ****ed Rebels: The American Revolution As Seen Through British Eyes
I would recommend Scars Of Independence. no one comes out well and it tells a story faraway from the neat drawing rooms which ideals were grandly put forward.
Many years ago while in the Royal Navy in our military history classes it was always called the American policing action. I have served in some not too hospitable places with my US cousins and we had some decent good mannered chats and arguments on the conflict. One thing that sticks in my mind was one day a young US Captain who was on the edges of the conversation said well when you Brits would have got to my state, Nevada, we would have 'kick your ***'. He received a little history lesson on dates from his countrymen........... which also included pointing out The Patriot with Mel Gibson was also not a true recollection as well. One thing we always discussed was Yorktown and what would have happened if the French fleet and the French army was not in support, I think we would have retreated into New York and it would have been a more protracted conflict, but with the same conclusion. However, the peace agreement, after the French were excluded, when the US started secret negotiations with the British, was in my opinion the most amicable and agreeable peace treat ever signed, with Brits allowed back to try and get their land back and further concessions on both side. Behaviour which also followed on with the Jay Treaty in 1795. There was always the normal good natured ball breaking about it whenever I happened to be in the States joint training etc, which I always took with good grace, as all us Brits there did, but we always used to let it settle and then 'throw in the 'grenade', by pointing out we won the rematch in 1812...............
if people are thinking, I was not a commissioned officer, spent my career to near the frontline for that. I must relook at the fiction stuff I was writing about the period, sort of a Sharp of the America's.
