Customer Reviews

The War for American Independence: From 1760 to the Surrender at Yorktown in 1781

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is by far the best book on the American revolution I have ever read. The author incorporates extensive excerpts from documents and correspondence of all the major participants of the war. I really got a sense of the true thoughts, feelings, and motivations of Washington, Benedict Arnold, Franklin, and so on. Griffith's research was extremely thorough and his insights enlightening. The British point of view is well presented and balanced as well. Eminently readable! Highest recommendation for anyone interested in how and why the revolution took place from a scholarly yet entertaining author.

An extremely well written and comprehensive volume on growing estrangement between Great Britain and the American colonies, and on the course of the Revolutionary War. The narrative flows easily from the viewpoint of the British to that of the Americans, enabling the reader to see both sides of the conflict.

The book is actually quite good, however it is hard to understand to what audience he aims it. At times the book seems to assume a good level of previous familiarity with the American Revolution from which he would add a greater military and political background than you were familiar with (specially a more foreign background which is rather nice). However, at other points he changes and quotes the Declaration of independence and some of its writing for a whole chapter.
Probably a good book for people who are not historically illiterate, but are also not historians. Bad book as an introduction, probably a good second book on the American Revolution.

The aspect of Griffith's work that makes it so worthwhile is its hearkening to the great tradition of blending compelling narrative prose style with factual content. This style has largely disappeared due to increased specialization within academia on one hand and a reliance on simplicity to reach lay readers by popular writers on the other. Griffith assumes his readers are familiar with the Revolution thus enriching his book with subtlety and eloquence missing from a standard overview like Middlekauff's redundant The Glorious Cause.
If one is new to learning about this period I wouldn't read this first. However, after youve scaled through enough Wood, Ketcham etc., pick this gem up and appreciate an old fashioned gripping story.

You certainly will get a detailed historical view of this subject from this author and all his research material. The book was kind of detailed, but provided many interesting days of reading instead of watching TV. I liked it as it provided a picture of the roots of America as a Union of States, before they were.

While not in the same class as Higganbotham's War of American Independence, Mackesy's The War for America, or even Middlekauff's The Glorious Cause, Griffith's work is still a good read regarding the Revolutionary War. As others have mentioned, Griffith admirably depicts the events, figures, and context of both sides. However, many of Griffith's points can be better found in other sources, so my advice would be to read those works (such as the ones mentioned above) before turning to Griffith.

I just finished this book and was very impressed. This is about the 12th book I have read on the war and the time period and honestly, it is one of my favorites. It does not give great detail about any battles, which some do. But it does an excellent job of answering a lot of questions I had after reading previous books. Many talk about the trials and tribulations of Washington's army but this book gives you insight as to why these problems occurred. It also follows the British Parliament and the struggles it went through before the war began through its end.
I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the Revolution!

I was amazed at the amount of information provided about the build up to the revolution. I found out about the struggles within the British goverment and its people back in England and how it affected the colonies in America. I would say its a must read for those that don't have knowledge of the revolution and the struggles of our founders. Most of the information in the book first 150 pages was not taught in school or college, which is a shame for we need to know more about the founding of our great nation taught.

Not having an real idea of the events of the time as we did not cover it at school I thoroughly enjoyed the research and well written history of the War. It was well detailed particularly covering both the British and American political issues, althought it felt like the author tired and wound up the final years very quickly. Dispite that a very good account and an relatively easy read for a subject like this. Thank you Author for the reseacrh which was obviously huge !.Written by a Kiwi(New Zealander) discovering American history for the first time.

Boring, I just could not get into this book. Out of all the Revolutionary books I have read this one was my least favorite.