In school we all learned the American mythology of how we won our independence from Great Britain. It wasn't until I was in college that some of the detail of that part of our history was drawn into clearer focus. Too often the American victory is taken as inevitable. Us good, them bad, we win. As always the truth is much more nuanced than that.
The second level of understanding usually takes us to the "poor leadership" model. The military officers were second rate and the governmental leaders were fools. That's still a pretty simplistic look at what in fact is a complex and difficult piece of historical terrain.
Author O'Shaughnessy takes us to a whole new place (as Americans that is) and looks at the war from the point of view of those who lead it and opposed it on the British side. Ten pivotal people are examined and their roles dissected. The picture that emerges is fascinating. From King George III to his Prime Minster Lord North (who disliked the term Prime Minister, did not use it and asked repeatedly for years to be allowed to resign) to the commanders in the field (the brothers Howe, one a general the other an admiral, Burgoyne, Cornwallis and Rodney) the task they set before themselves never matched the reality that awaited in the colonies. The government was split on the subject of the war. As a result sometimes contradictory instructions were sent to the commanders. The Army chose repeatedly to use tactics seemingly designed to make their life hard. The use of German mercenaries was seen as an insult by those who saw this as a conflict among English peoples. Beyond that were the use of plunder and terror that simply stiffened the opposition. Add in the bits that we were taught - over extended supply lines, slow communication, byzantine administration and often enormous egos - and the situation was essentially unwinnable from the start.
Now on the American side there were similar problems. A weak central government that was essentially bankrupt, divided on the subject of the war and always capable of giving contradictory instruction to its generals. It was only because of the quality of the military leadership on BOTH sides that this war went on as long as it did. The political leadership in England remained in some quarters astoundingly tone deaf to what was actually happening in America. Some of them, including the King, wanted to continue on fighting even after Cornwallis's surrender.
Beyond the fine story telling and wonderful insight that O'Shaughnessy brings to the story I was struck by the parallels to modern American history. Now we are the world power attempting to bring order to the world through military might. Too often it seems we are as tone deaf to the reality of the situations in those countries where we have been fighting for a decade as King George III was. His book stands as a stern warning of what may lie before us is we insist on following that path.
For the history lover this is a great book. I would expect that those dedicated to the history of the War of Independence will classify this one as a must have.
"The Men Who Lost America" will hit bookshelves on June 28, 2013.
Rating - **** Recommended
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