I gave up.

I found this too dry for me to keep up with -- which is fair, because I tend to prefer narrative history. This tended toward the overexplaining side, rather than the storytelling side, which is fine for some and not for others. I'm in the others column. Ah well. ( )

recommended on AP US history listserv

and Rich

Part of the Oxford History of the United States this is a grand overview of the revolutionary period of American history. Starting in the period of the Indian wars it continues through the decade of the 1780s. Centering on the eight year war it provides valuable background for the general reader. ( )

Unfortunately I did not finish. I went into this work because I wanted to know why the Americans rebelled against Great Britain. The beginning chapters explain these events fantastically. However, once the book got into battle formations, troop movement, military tactics etc, I became uninterested and struggled. Military theory isn't my cup of tea. Also I have taken a course on the events following post-Revolutionary War, so I know about the US Constitution and all the drama surrounding the ratification. I leave this work knowing a lot more than when I started.

5666. The Glorious Cause 1763-1789 Revised and Extended Edition, by Robert Middlekauff (read 31 Dec 2019) This is part of the The Oxford History of the United States, of which I had read 7 volumes and so I thought I should read this one. This book is very detailed and the product of much research. It does not get to the outbreak of the Revolution till page 275. I found the recitation of the minutiae of the battles often bored me. I guess I do not really want to know all the battle details and except for the boring recitation of battle details I found this book full of interest. Its account of the events after the war ended is well done and not as excruciatingly detailed as some of the recitation of events on the various minor battlefields. (though the account of the final battle [Yorktown] seemed hurried and lacked the detail which IT deserved). My initial study of the Revolution in grade school stood up well and so little about the war surprised me. ( )