George Washington's War: The Saga of the American Revolution [Paperback]

Robert Leckie (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 15, 1993

An exciting trip back in time to the American Revolution, "a reminder of what history can be when written by a master."--Publishers Weekly

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This fast-paced, vivid narrative enhances Leckie's reputation as a popular military historian ( Delivered from Evil ; None Died in Vain ). A storyteller in the tradition of Bruce Catton, he perceives the origins of the American Revolution in the colonists' increasingly pervasive drive for independence and describes the revolution's success as the consequence of American victories in battle. Leckie has high praise for the fighting men on both sides. The British adapted unfamiliar kinds of warfare; the Americans developed the endurance and discipline they needed to make good on their defiance of the crown. The work's principal strength, however, is its juxtaposition of colorful depictions of the war's principal figures with exciting accounts of the major campaigns. The book is a reminder of what history can be when written by a master.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Leckie, who has written popular histories of the American Civil War, World War II, the Korean War, and others, now offers a fife-and-drum account of the American Revolution. This book, like his others, is long on anecdote and short on analysis. Leckie drags out many tired commonplaces, casting the patriots as heroes and the British as villains, and he focuses on kings and generals rather than common soldiers or a people at war. Leckie's deft vignettes of leaders and his belief that "right" won in the end give his account energy and conviction, but his old-school reading of the causes and conduct of the war and his total neglect of its consequences limit the book's worth.
-Randall M. Miller, St. Joseph's Univ., Philadelphia
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 688 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial; First Paperback Edition edition (September 15, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 006092215X
• ISBN-13: 978-0060922153
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #848,092 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent, very readable chronicle of the Revolution, July 11, 2000

By 

J. Mullin (Plantation, FL USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: George Washington's War: The Saga of the American Revolution (Paperback)

Some historians, such as Shelby Foote, have a natural ability to assimilate tremendous amounts of historical and biographical data, and weave it all into a very approachable story that reads almost like a novel. Leckie has accomplished a similar feat with this book, which is the best book I have read on the American Revolution. Short on maps and without footnotes, the book nevertheless tells as complete a story as can be hoped for in a one volume account of the war, with excellent biograophical sketches of many of the major and minor players such as Benedict Arnold, John Andre,John Burgoyne, Banastre Tarleton, Horatio Gates, Samuel Adams, and Nathaniel Greene, and countless others. He keeps the action in context, filling in readers with important contemporary details from the internal squabbling of the Continental Congress as well as British Parliament, without getting too bogged down in irrelevant detail. The passages about the treason of Arnold, and Arnold's tremendous military accomplishments and mistreatment by Congress leading up to his betrayal, were particularly riveting. There have been many books written about the Civil War, and most general readers with a passing interest in history (like myself) are familiar with most major Civil War battles and generals. However there is a dearth of knowledge and material about the battle for American independence. While we all know what happened at Yorktown, this book is suspenseful and will fill in the considerable gaps in our knowledge of this important time in the nation's history. I recommend this book with enthusiasm.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Overview of the American Revolution!, November 27, 2004

By 

Michael Taylor "Michael Taylor" (Indian Trail NC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: George Washington's War: The Saga of the American Revolution (Paperback)

Leckie has written an excellent account of the much overlooked American War of Independence. His writing style is interesting: full of anecdoctal notes on several historical figures, reads like a novel, and is simple without insulting your intelligence.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the character of King George, the Howe brothers, Charles Lee, Benedict Arnold, Nathaniel Greene, Daniel Morgan, Charles Cornwallis, and especially George Washington.

The major complaints I had: the maps (too few and lacked detail), lack of footnotes, and no pictures. The maps' lack of detail made it difficult sometimes to follow troop movements and more should have been developed to cover more of the battles covered in the book. Listing footnotes would have helped immensely to validate what the author said about certain people and events and to help separate his opinion from actual recorded history. Having more pictures would have also helped by adding more of a human element to the book. For example, Leckie on mentioned that Lord Rawdon and Charles Lee were two of the ugliest men in the Revolution while John Laurens and John Andre were impressive looking men who drove the ladies wild. It would have been interesting to at least see some potraits of them and form your own opinion! It also would have been nice to see some drawings of the various battles that Leckie so vividly portrayed.

I still highly recommend the book as an excellent introductory and comprehensive study of the Revolution and look forward to reading more of Leckie's titles.

Read and enjoy!

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars George Washington's War - and Benedict Arnold's too, October 3, 2000

By 

Scott B. Kelly (Webster Groves, MO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: George Washington's War: The Saga of the American Revolution (Paperback)

Before picking up this book, the only full-length treatment of the Revolution that I had read was Barbara Tuchmann's The First Salute (excellent book). Before that, I being a good Civil War buff, had contented myself with receiving Revolution history through general (high school and college) American history courses and History Channel episodes. Boy, oh boy, what I missed. I have not been able to stop reading George Washington's War, an for someone woefully unversed in the Revolution (save Tuchmann), this was an excellant starting point. The layman reader need not fear this book, for Leckie does not get bogged down in heavy tactical analysis, but rather illuninates the reader with the reasons why things happened. The best part of this book, though, is his portrait of Benedict Arnold. Before reading GWW, the name Benedict Arnold was synonymous in my mind with "traitor". Now, it is "fallen hero," admitedly by his own design. That Arnold turned traitor in a foul way (wanting to surrender a fort and 3,000 American soldiers) is not in dispute. But I am compelled to agree with Leckie that if it were not for Arnold's actions from '75 through '77, there would be no United States of America.