Patriot Battles: How the War of Independence Was Fought
A former editor of the Military Book Club, Stephenson (Battlegrounds) aims to strip away "the slow accretion  of national mythology and popular history" that has "embalmed" the American  Revolution. The result is a well-documented, entertaining and mildly  revisionist military history in two parts. In the first, Stephenson examines  "The Nuts and Bolts of War," answering basic questions about who fought, how  and why. He concludes, unsurprisingly, that "the war was not revolutionary in  any military sense." What's intriguing is how similar the American and British  armies were—Stephenson notes that for each, "It was like gazing into a  mirror." To analyze prosaic details like supply and transport, weapons and  medical care, the author uses an array of statistics and technical  data—muzzle velocities, shot weights, equipment lists, etc.—but wisely  leavens them with anecdotes. In part two, Stephenson turns to an analysis of  the major battles of the war, from the opening skirmishes at Lexington and  Concord to the climactic showdown at Yorktown, and concludes that the  Continental Army's victory was always predicated on its numerical superiority.  This excellent popular history should attract a wide audience with its fresh  perspective. 16 maps.(Apr.)Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.