Customer Reviews

Maryland Loyalists in the American Revolution

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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

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.