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Summary:
In this gripping chronicle of America's struggle for independence, award-winning historian John Ferling transports readers to the grim realities of that war, capturing an eight-year conflict filled with heroism, suffering, cowardice, betrayal, and fierce dedication. As Ferling demonstrates, it was a war that America came much closer to losing than is now usually remembered. General George Washington put it best when he said that the American victory was "little short of a standing miracle." Almost a Miracle offers an illuminating portrait of America's triumph, offering vivid descriptions of all the major engagements, from the first shots fired on Lexington Green to the surrender of General Cornwallis at Yorktown, revealing how these battles often hinged on intangibles such as leadership under fire, heroism, good fortune, blunders, tenacity, and surprise. The author paints sharp-eyed portraits of the key figures in the war, including General Washington and other American officers and civilian leaders. Some do not always measure up to their iconic reputations, including Washington himself. Others, such as the quirky, acerbic Charles Lee, are seen in a much better light than usual. The book also examines the many faceless men who soldiered, often for years on end, braving untold dangers and enduring abounding miseries. The author explains why they served and sacrificed, and sees them as the forgotten heroes who won American independence. Ferling's narrative is also filled with compassion for the men who comprised the British army and who, like their American counterparts, struggled and died at an astonishing rate in this harsh war. Nor does Ferling ignore the naval war, describing dangerous patrols and grand and dazzling naval actions. Finally, Almost a Miracle takes readers inside the legislative chambers and plush offices of diplomats to reveal countless decisions that altered the course of this war. The story that unfolds is at times a tale of folly, at times one of appalling misinformation and confusion, and now and then one of insightful and dauntless statesmanship.
Customer Reviews:
Average Customer Rating:
Insight and not just history
Customer Rating:
Having read close to 20 books on the revolutionary years in the past four years, I wasn't expecting much that was new.
While most of those other books received deserved good reviews, their focus was so narrow that it is hard to see their story within the larger context.
This well written and energetic account not only ties together all the years of the revolution, the author provides valued and welcome analysis: the whys and outcomes and not just the history.
A welcome addition to the genre.
John Ferling : Almost A Miracle
Customer Rating:
John Ferling's Almost A Miracle is probably one of the best military/diplomatic histories I've read of the American War of Independence. His magisterial treatment of all aspects of the military side of the war is clear, easy to read, and undertaken with scholarly impeccability. Judicious in his judgements of all participants on bothe the American and British sides, it is an excellent introduction for anyone interested in the War of Independence.
Good Book
Customer Rating:
I really enjoy reading this book. I learned a lot about our country history. I agree with the author we were lucky to win the war. I found that I could not use the Table of content to go to the chapters. I've used that before to go to chapters in other books for the Kindle. Since the chapters in this book are really long ones suggest you bookmark each time you come to a new chapter. Makes it easier to get back to where you were reading in case you accidently hit the wrong button by mistake.
Excellent all-around
Customer Rating:
This is a very solid book. It's sure to please both the casual reader who picks up a history book now and then, as well as those who are really into the American revolution as a particular interest.
I'm an avid reader of books concerning the American Revolution, and was asking myself whether yet another general book covering the whole set of events would be worthwhile, especially a 600 page one. The short answer is: yes, it's worthwhile.
The book covers familiar territory. However, many other American Revolution books tend to focus on the events leading up to the war and then the beginning of the fighting, and thus have a geographic focus on the Northeast where the early stuff happened (e.g. Boston Tea Party, Shot Heard Round The World, Continental Congress, Saratoga, etc). The latter years of the war - that is to say, the last 70-80 % of it - and the war's expansive geography across the colonies (and indeed overseas) are often neglected. The main contribution of this particular volume is in extending the war temporally and geographically for the reader, to articulate what really took place - a long, drawn out affair across a huge swath of space and time. The war, as most know, ended in the South, and while it's obvious that somehow we got from Boston to Yorktown during this fight, the migration of the war to and then through the south is not familiar to many. This book definitely fills in the gap, covering the broad scope of the war in ways that not many books on this topic do.
Well-written, interesting, and well-researched, this book is an excellent addition to anyone's Revolution collection. It is more "broad" than "deep"; it's a great introduction/general overview of the war for those who intend later to dig further into specialized or narrower topics. It will leave many readers wanting to learn and know more about specific aspects of the Revolution, which was surely the author's intent.
My initial review of this book in 8/08, prior to this update, was critical of the author's overemphasis on Washington's flaws and on the importance of various other players such as Gates and Lee. On the first reading, I felt that the book might be bordering on revisionism-for-revisionism's-sake, which in general I don't like. However, I've since re-read it and carefully compared its coverage of various events (e.g. Saratoga) to some other books. The author provides some interesting alternative viewpoints that are not identical to other books on the subject. On the first pass, I saw that as a criticism, but on the second pass I now see that as a strength.
(Side note: After finishing the book, I re-watched "The Patriot" on DVD (Mel Gibson), which is a *fictional* account of the South Carolina militia leader Frances Marion, who fought the British hard and furiously, in particular the ruthless British Col. Tarleton. The book, with its emphasis on the Southern side of the war, made the movie much more interesting and put it into context; conversely, the movie helped bring a large swathe of the book to life, too. It should be noted that The Patriot is a *highly* romanticized, fictional version of the conflict in the Carolinas. For instance, Mel takes out Col. Tarleton by hand in a satisfyingly epic conclusion to an epic tale, but in real life, there was nothing that conclusive - Tarleton went home to England after the war and did a little of this-and-that for many years. Still, I would recommend seeing the movie in conjunction with reading the book, just to get a good gut feel for how desperate and frantic the fighting in the Carolinas was.)
Best Book on the American Revolution
Customer Rating:
This is the best book that I've read on the American Revolution. Unlike some other good books, it covers the whole story from the start until the end and every aspect of the war including the overseas negotiations, the unknown war around New York between 1779-1781, and does an especially good job of covering the southern war.
Unlike other good books on the American Revolution, which don't really give the Southern campaign much emphasis, this one does, because the events of late 1780 and early 1781, including Kings Mountain, Cowpens and Guilford Courthouse did lead Cornwallis to move to Virginia which of course led to the concluding battle at Yorktown. The author lays out quite well that the patriot uprising in South Carolina after the loss at Camden was a key event of the American Revolution, because the patriots in South Carolina and North Carolina and the overmountain men in Tennessee rose up to fight for the freedom. Like a recent movie, this book highlights the importance of this and its result.
It also handles the different personalities in a more even approach. Yes, it emphasizes the importance of Washington, but also recognizes that Gates and Lee and most importantly Greene had key roles in the American Revolution. Gates, of course, was the leader at Saratoga, and yes, Arnold played a key role there, but then again Arnold was a traitor. Lee was very helpful to Washington during the New York campaign in 1776 and the book's presentation on Lee at Monmouth opened some slightly different insight on this event. And, then Greene was the real leader in the South - taking a losing cause when he had absolutely inadequate resources and turning it around.
In short, this book takes a more even approach to the American Revolution, in my opinion, and in the process of doing so offers new insights on this period of history. This is why I highly recommend this book for all readers and especially those who have studied this period of history.
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