First published 1982
Middlekauff charts the American Revolution from its political origins through eight years of military conflict. He examines the cascade of crises that drove Britain and its colonies toward war, then turns to the battlefield campaigns that decided the outcome. The book profiles the leaders who directed the struggle: George Washington, Benedict Arnold, Cornwallis, and Burgoyne among others. Middlekauff recounts the major battles from Lexington and Concord through Yorktown, analyzing how commanders made tactical and strategic decisions under pressure. He demonstrates how political events shaped military campaigns and how battlefield victories and defeats influenced diplomacy and public sentiment. The narrative shows thirteen separate colonies learning to fight as a unified force against the British Empire. Readers gain a complete picture of how military action and political maneuvering combined to create an independent American nation.
Genres: biography, history, non-fiction, military-history, historical-drama, american-history
Vibes: analytical, authoritative, comprehensive, dramatic, scholarly
Tropes: cause-and-effect, historical-narrative, leadership-study, multi-perspective
Setting: Bunker Hill, Lexington and Concord, Saratoga, Yorktown
Period: American Revolution, Colonial Era
687 pages · Paperback · Oxford University Press
Content warnings: violence, war