Customer Reviews

The Valley Forge Winter: Civilians And Soldiers In War

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For just a short while there, history writing had taken too much upon itself. Some writers thought they were supposed to answer very large questions about human capacities, conditions, means, and methods. Most of us have shared the experience of re-reading introductory materials in certain theoretically acclaimed MEISTERWERKE, only to privately confess to a dirty little secret: we each suspect ourselves of being too ignorant to peer at the critical theory lavishly draped on the parading emperor. Some writers overreact in the opposite direction, knitting entire monographs out of gossamer arguments over axiomatic minutia. "Out of fashion" for a time, were those history books that might be kept on a shelf and retrieved again to support future research into such questions as "and what happened next?"

Wayne Bodle's _Valley Forge Winter: Civilians and Soldiers in War_ does not masquerade as a philosophy text. The overarching question falls logically from the book's title. "What happens when two armies descend on a diverse population in a divided community with complex and ambiguous historical experiences with war and peace?" Scholars of the American Revolution--professional and amateur alike--will want to own a copy and to keep it handy. But other people, especially those who write other kinds of history books, should take note as well. Bodle has chosen to write about one of the most sacred places and experiences in the American national imagination. Missing from his narration are the god like and therefore incredible caricatures of general officers and struggling statesmen. Instead we are treated to real people, on all sides of the various issues--all with believable motivations and understandable human frailties. What is heroic about these people is not their perfection, but their humanity. All books might be improved; this one could have provided clearer maps to offset the space savings afforded by the myth-endectomy.

Like another reviewer below, I had the good fortune of studying under Professor Bodle several years ago. I took four graduate courses and wish there had been more. So my responsibilities for full disclosure have been hereby discharged. But I have since used this book in teaching American History survey courses with excellent results. Interesting enough to keep grad students turning pages, VFW is a great introduction to scholarly writing for undergraduates as well.

To tell you the truth, yes this book is tedious. If you are interested in History, especially on the American Revolution I think that Dr. Bodle discusses a very well presented arguement between the "Real Struggle" in the Revolution between Morristown and Valley Forge. The Author has a specialized knowledge about the Campaign in Pennsylvania. I have had him for 2 classes being Colonial America and American Revolution. He shows his in depth knowledge of the ideology of social, economical and political aspects of the struggle known as the American Revolution in this book. In short...If you want to learn a wider vision of the Revolution...you would like the ideas from this book. If you can not take the pressure then watch the history channel!

I was looking forward to reading this book before I opened the cover. Then I kept falling asleep as I tried to read the book. Does the author who is Assistant Professor of History at Indiana University of Pennsylvania serve coffee to his class to keep his students awake. True it is a fresh approach to the events of the winter camp at Valley Forge. But one I find hard to believe, due the the past scholarly writing and facts about the winter camp at Valley Forge. The author believes that the suffering of the American army was not as bad as we have be led to believe and that Washington overstated it to congress...