Maryland Loyalists in the American Revolution [Hardcover]

M. Christopher New (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1996

In 1777, four hundred men from the Eastern Shore of Maryland raised a red-coated regiment, pledging their loyalty to king and mother country. Yet for more than two hundred years, their story remained untold. Maryland Loyalists in the American Revolution describes for the first time the lives of these officers and soldiers, examining their beliefs - and the heavy price they paid to uphold them. During the years of tumult and upheaval, great numbers of loyalists lost their homes, their livelihood, and their lives. When war came to an end, many surviving loyalists were banished to Nova Scotia. As they fled, a tragic shipwreck dealt the final blow. Rare and previously unpublished documents portray these forgotten loyalists, bringing to light their struggles and hardships.

Editorial Reviews

From Scientific American

New gives us the vivid untold story of men and women with strong loyalty to Britain. His style is highly readable, and the treatment often deals with persons we'd like to know about, but do not. New has opened, not one door but several. Each invites us to explore an aspect of the American Revolution that is almost universally neglected. Because of both subject matter and style, this volume is highly recommended.

Review

This thoroughly documented and well-written study does much more than illuminate the service of Maryland's military and civil war: it shines a bright new light into corners that have remained dark because both sides -- American winners and British losers -- chose to keep it that way." -- Mark M. Boatner III, author of Encyclopedia of the American Revolution

Product Details

• Hardcover: 185 pages
• Publisher: Tidewater Pub; 1st edition (May 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0870334956
• ISBN-13: 978-0870334955
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,130,143 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars One of those great "I didn't know that!" kind of books., December 22, 1996

By A Customer

This review is from: Maryland Loyalists in the American Revolution (Hardcover)

Truthfully, I've never really been interested in the American Revolution by this book dragged me kicking and screaming into the middle of what the author calls "America's First Civil War". New is interested in the nobodys, the people who didn't make it in the history books. I mean, yeah, yeah, we all know about Washington. Washington did this, Washington did that, blah, blah, blah. This book, though, took me into the life of the common loyalist soldier -- something I sure didn't know about. I also liked New's style. He doesn't write like some snubby academic. This loyalist history is real accessible to anyone curious to know something about history. I definitely recommmend it

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Adds a new dimension..., September 16, 2006

By 

S. Pospisil (Maryland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Maryland Loyalists in the American Revolution (Hardcover)

This is one of those books that truly added a new dimension to my understanding of American History. I'd recommend this book for anyone who has ever visited the Liberty Bell, hummed Yankee Doodle or read the Declaration of Independence. Examining the motivation and the outcome of those Colonists who chose to support the British against their next-door neighbors really added another layer to my appreciation for the magnitude of the actions that resulted in American independence. (The Civil War wasn't the first war in the US to pit neighbor against neighbor.)

The author does a great job of placing context around the day-to-day, as well as the life-changing decisions made by the early American settlers as everyone was faced with "choosing sides".

Not a boring text-book, but an engaging, well-documented story about a little-known aspect of American history. If you like to gain insight by looking at history from all sides of the story this book will appeal to you. I really enjoyed it.