American Revolution

These Truths

Comprehensive Yet Digestible: Jill Lepore’s These Truths

Posted on by Jeffrey Lauck Leave a comment
Lepore, Jill. These Truths: A History of the United States. Audiobook. Recorded Books, 2018.  I must confess that I did not actually “read” These Truths, or at least not in the conventional sense. Instead, I opted to listen to the audiobook version, read by the distinguished Jill Lepore herself. And so it was that I […]... Read More
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A Grander Perspective: Smithsonian’s The American Revolution as a World War

Posted on by Bryan Caswell Leave a comment
Our loyal followers, and probably anyone who has read a few of my pieces here at Concerning History, know that I love breaking down American exceptionalism and arguing for a more comprehensive exploration of the global dimension of American history. It’s kind of my thing. So when I opened my parents’ Christmas package this past year to find The American Revolution as a World War, I was beyond thrilled. As I eagerly devoured it, I realized I had at last found an engaging, approachable primer perfect for introducing students and casual historian to the grander dimensions of world history that have come to form the bread and butter of my own historical understanding.... Read More
Gibraltar

In Defense of the Rock: Roy and Lesley Adkins’s Gibraltar

Posted on by Bryan Caswell Leave a comment
We Americans have a habit of paying closer attention to our own history than what goes on in the outside world. Perhaps we can be forgiven for doing so concerning our own war for independence, but even here there is a global story to be told that does not regularly appear in American narratives of the conflict. France and, later, Spain’s entry into the conflict on the side of the fledgling United States made the American Revolution a successor of the Seven Years War, known as the French and Indian War in America, with fighting taking place wherever the map bore British red. Roy and Lesley Adkins bring one of these disparate theaters to light after years of neglect. The American Revolution occasioned one of the longest, fiercest battles in British history as the Empire fought to maintain control over one of its tiniest outposts: the Rock of Gibraltar.... Read More
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Not Quite, but Getting There: Ian Barnes’ Historical Atlas of Native Americans

Posted on by Bryan Caswell 1 Comment
I admit, this seems like a strange choice of book to review. What can the possibly be to say about an atlas? Ian Barnes’ Historical Atlas of Native Americans, however, is more than simply a collection of maps; it is a general overview of the history of Native Americans from the Stone Age to the present, illustrated with artifacts, drawing, paintings, photographs, and, of course, maps. These elements, coupled with the intriguing state of being authored by a white, British, academic, called for reflection on their execution.... Read More
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Astounding Leniency: The American Civil War and Comparative Rebellions

Posted on by Bryan Caswell Leave a comment
Months ago, Kevin wrote a speculative piece reflecting on the implications of nineteenth-century concepts of ‘just war’ and their relevance today. Much of this discussion was centered around the American Civil War and the quandary of pursuing a war sharply so as to conclude it swiftly and limit suffering in the long run. Ideas of just war in the American Civil War were further complicated by the fact that the enemies of the United States government were fellow Americans. Or were they? The conflict was at its core a rebellion, and so perhaps it would be useful to consider the Union’s actions (and inactions) in that context. What were contemporary attitudes towards rebellions? What actions were considered justified in their suppression? And, most importantly, why did the United States pursue or not pursue those actions against its own rebellious citizens?... Read More
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Towards a More Total War: ‘Gentlemanly Warfare’ and the Rise of the Nation-State

Posted on by Bryan Caswell Leave a comment
One of the most controversial figures in the history of the United States is William Tecumseh Sherman. For his direction of a single campaign in the fall and early winter of 1864, Sherman has been reviled by nigh-half the country while providing military historians endless fodder for debating the origins of the philosophy of ‘total war.’ Even and perhaps especially for his detractors, Sherman’s strategy of destroying (supposedly) non-military and civilian resources is seen as somehow original, a new and innovative way of waging war that would come to dominate the twentieth century. There’s only one problem with that conventional wisdom: it’s patently ridiculous.... Read More
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Civil War, Round One: Holger Hoock’s Scars of Independence

Posted on by Bryan Caswell Leave a comment
As some of you may have noticed in my recent post on American empire, I’m not exactly a fan of the exceptionalist myths that we Americans replace our history with. I became excited, then, when I learned about a new book from the J. Carroll Amundsen Professor of British History at the University of Pittsburgh, Dr. Holger Hoock. Entitled Scars of Independence, Hoock’s work is meant for both public and academic audiences and seeks to restore the central and ubiquitous position of violence to our sanitized and whitewashed tradition of the American Revolution. Reminding his readers that the war was just as much a civil war between Patriots and Loyalists as it was a struggle for independence, Hoock embarks on a grisly account of just how bitterly the Revolutionary War was waged.... Read More