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Loading... The Strategy of Victory: How General George Washington Won the American Revolution (edition 2017)by Thomas Fleming (Author)
Work InformationThe Strategy of Victory: How General George Washington Won the American Revolution by Thomas Fleming
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"Led by the Continental Congress, the Americans almost lost their war for independence because their military thinking was badly muddled. The embryo nation narrowly escaped from the disastrous results of these misconceptions thanks to the levelheaded intelligence of one man: General George Washington. Following the flush of small victories in 1775, patriot leaders were convinced that the key to victory was the homegrown militia--local men defending their families and homes. Washington knew that having and maintaining an army of regular professional soldiers was the only way to win independence. He fought bitterly with the leaders in Congress over the creation of a regular army. In the end, he and his army prevailed. In Strategy of Victory, prolific historian Thomas Fleming examines the battles that created American independence, revealing how the strategy of a professional army, backed by a corps of citizen soldiers determined to fight for their freedom, worked on the battlefield, securing victory, independence and a lasting peace for the young nation"-- No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)973.4History and Geography North America United States Constitutional period (1789-1809)LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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The first half of the book was outstanding, as the author provided just enough information on various well-known encounters to support his hypotheses. His humorous criticisms (e.g., John Adams disdain for enlisted men and Thomas Paine's claim that Britain could not afford to maintain enough soldiers) were insightful. While both of these men had excellent qualities, it's important to keep in mind they knew very little about how to win the fighting- making Washington's success even more impressive.
Unfortunately, in the second half of the book the author delved too deeply into the minutiae of certain southern battles. Neither supported his main themes, and perhaps are the result of his Irish background and affinity for these fighting men. The result was a somewhat unbalanced book that in its latter stages focused on battlefield encounters that were hard to follow. ( )