Customer Reviews

George Washington's Generals and Opponents: Their Exploits and Leadership

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This excellent book provides compendium biographies for all the major commanding generals of both sides during the American Revolution. The average length of each bio is roughly 10-30 pages, which provides enough general detail for each personality. No book has put under one cover all the key military players of the Revolution. In addition to all the standards like Washington and Lafayette, the reader also gets many lesser known American generals, as well as the main British personalities like Howe and Clinton. The American Revolution was not a war that produced any brilliant generals on either side. Reading these various bios will show that military brilliance was not really displayed in the Revolution by either side. Washington was an inpired leader of men, but a poor tactican. Sir William Howe a good tactician, but a conservetive strategist. Readers may be surprised to learn how imcompetent many American generals were, and how basically competent most of the British were. This was a war about the hearts and minds of the American people, and this was a problem the British never really understood. Leadership displyaed by both sides was often haphazzard, and this book should provide ample evidence of that. There is a lot of duplication of events because many of the generals were involved in the same events, but each bio is complete in itself and should provide interesting reading on the major commanders involved on both sides during the American Revolution.

This book examines both Washington's subordinates (there were many) as well as his supposedly better trained British antagonists. Only recently have books surfaced positing that the British lost the War for Independence more out of failings in their strategy than brilliance by American generals. After reading this book you may agree.

The future United States lost more than 70% of the battles in the war. In some cases the losses were catastrophic. Yet the Americans won the war.

A Chinese proverb says, "The best lie is to tell the truth". As the truth comes out it makes me prouder to call myself an American. This is because one eventually comes to an understanding as to how we could possibly have defeated the most mighty nation on Earth at the time.

Enjoy!

How did the Americans emerge victorious in the Revolutionary War? Was it due to the talents of George Washington and his commanders, as some historians argue? Or to the incompetence of a long series of British Generals and Admirals?

This is the question this excellent volume attempts to answer.

George Billias's book, originally published as two separate volumes, is now available as a single integrated work. In each of the book's two parts, a series of historians and scholars each examine the life and battlefields victories and defeats of a single individual general. The book is well balanced. Twelve American Generals are examined in the first part; twelve British General and Admirals in the second.

The result is an amazingly well written collection of essays on the men who won and lost the Revolutionary War. A great many myths are dispelled and a number of interesting military figures, both American and British, have been illuminated.

The editors (and authors) conclude that the relatively inexperienced Americans took timely advantage of a series of strategic and tactical mistakes by their British counterparts, on land and at sea, to win the war.

Those interested in learning more about the key military figures of the war will find this book a great read and a welcome addition to their library!

Great resource to have, and most essays are well-written. Problem is that there are too many naval bios on the British side.