Reviewed by David Price, Washington Crossing Historic Park Historical Interpreter
This acclaimed historian’s newest account of the Revolution is a crisp, clear narrative that comprehensively covers the political, military, economic, and social aspects of the period from 1763 to 1783.
The author of a slew of works on the Founding Fathers and early America, John Ferling displays a deft touch in covering the essential components of what is obviously a multifaceted story and weaving them into a broader context.
By doing so, he helps the reader to better understand the upheaval that launched America on its quest for independence and in search of a republican ideal that, in a sense, it is still seeking today.
For as Ferling notes in the preface: “Historians have never reached a consensus about when the American Revolution concluded. I agree with those who think it has never ended, given that the egalitarian and natural-rights ideas of the Revolution have inspired subsequent generations down to the present.”
Here is one vote for ranking this among the best single-volume histories of the American Revolution. For any Rev War buff, reading it should be like savoring your favorite ice cream, for it is just as difficult to put down.
