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Bezig met laden... Washington's Crossing (2004)door David Hackett Fischer
Bezig met laden...
Meld je aan bij LibraryThing om erachter te komen of je dit boek goed zult vinden. Op dit moment geen Discussie gesprekken over dit boek. nonfiction (history--Revolutionary War). Great narrative reading. I still have trouble absorbing all of the battle/tactical information, but it is getting easier, and DHF does a nice job with incorporating the humanity of the soldiers and officers through inclusion of their personal letters and writings--I especially remember and appreciate the intro (about the famous painting and its history, as well as how it may or may not be inaccurate) or the concluding chapter. This book was selected in my top three books for the first quarter of 2012. Why study history? What does it matter to me? Because it shows the contingency in events that unfold in time and place. The book explores the author's viewpoint on a contingency in history; "people making choices, and choices making a difference in the world."363. The choices were made from what the participants felt about the events that were unfolding. The Brits viewed the rebels as a bunch of yeoman farmers. The Americans viewed the British as an enormous dinosaur that did not know its tail form its nose. Had Washington not been General? Had General Charles Lee not been captured? (Lee would have stalled Washington from crossing the river, as he was the typical overcautious general.) Had the Hessian Forces and Brits not been overconfident? Had a woman not kept the Hessian General at home, instead of in his key position on the battle front? Then the American Story would have been quit different. The book was great in displaying the way that Washington's Story was told by different authors with different purposes. He shows with honesty how the facts can be skewed to prove the point of any political platform. Before reading this book I always believed that the Hessian Army was drunk when Washington attacked it. From the facts assembled this has proven to be not true. But somewhere the myth has replaced the facts. We now believe that the Hessian Army was a bunch of drunken dolts. I loved this book. I discovered a lot about this event that I did not know before. He writes in a way that is truly a pleasure to read. The only draw back was that on my kindle the maps were hard to read. But that is what they created magnifying glass for.
Fischer has devised a storytelling technique that combines old and new methods in a winning way. At the core of an impeccably researched, brilliantly executed military history is an analysis of George Washington's crossing of the Delaware River in December 1776 and the resulting destruction of the Hessian garrison of Trenton and defeat of a British brigade at Princeton. Onderdeel van de reeks(en)Onderdeel van de uitgeversreeks(en)PrijzenOnderscheidingenErelijsten
Verwijzingen naar dit werk in externe bronnen. Wikipedia in het Engels (48)
Six months after the Declaration of Independence, the American Revolution was all but lost. A powerful British force had routed the Americans at New York, occupied three colonies, and advanced within sight of Philadelphia. Yet, as David Hackett Fischer recounts in this riveting history, George Washington--and many other Americans--refused to let the Revolution die. On Christmas night, as a howling nor'easter struck the Delaware Valley, he led his men across the river and attacked the exhausted Hessian garrison at Trenton, killing or capturing nearly a thousand men. A second battle of Trenton followed within days. The Americans held off a counterattack by Lord Cornwallis's best troops, then were almost trapped by the British force. Under cover of night, Washington's men stole behind the enemy and struck them again, defeating a brigade at Princeton. The British were badly shaken. In twelve weeks of winter fighting, their army suffered severe damage, their hold on New Jersey was broken, and their strategy was ruined. Fischer's richly textured narrative reveals the crucial role of contingency in these events. We see how the campaign unfolded in a sequence of difficult choices by many actors, from generals to civilians, on both sides. While British and German forces remained rigid and hierarchical, Americans evolved an open and flexible system that was fundamental to their success. The startling success of Washington and his compatriots not only saved the faltering American Revolution, but helped to give it new meaning. Geen bibliotheekbeschrijvingen gevonden. |
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Google Books — Bezig met laden... GenresDewey Decimale Classificatie (DDC)973.332History and Geography North America United States Revolution and confederation (1775-89) Operations Campaigns of 1776LC-classificatieWaarderingGemiddelde:
Ben jij dit?Word een LibraryThing Auteur. Recorded BooksEen editie van dit boek werd gepubliceerd door Recorded Books. |
A major distinction is that Chernow and McCullough are primarily writers, whereas Fischer is primarily a professor.
Fischer posits convincingly that the revival of the Revolution, almost sundered in the loss of New York City during the summer and fall of 1776 started before the Crossing of the Delaware and the Battle of Trenton, and that revival made those victories possible. A brief excerpt from what I think was the most stirring chapter, "The Great Revival":
That view of the best of America being brought forth by crisis is true to this day.
Another focus of Washington's Crossing is in part on the uniquely American system that Washington and Continental Congress helped pioneer of placing elected representatives in overall charge, but delegating to experts a major amount of discretion in how they discharge their duties. Washington was given overall charge of the conduct of the Revolutionary War, for example. Fischer takes this analogy further, to having boards of directors of corporation selecting operating officers, and Boards of Education selecting superintendents operating independently but under supervision.
He also retells the thrilling stories of Washington's flexible and then-unique war strategy of avoiding pitched battles, but making the British and Hessians die the proverbial "death of a thousand cuts" though he does not use that phrase.
One quibble; I was constantly looking up words. One was "celerity" which turns out to mean "rapidity of motion." Another was "anabasis" which means "a military advance." And another jarring reference was his reference to "the Jamestown and Sagadahoc Colonies of 1607." The latter was a short-lived colony in Maine. This book may be more for history buffs, but it makes great reading. ( )