Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #47561 in Books
• Published on: 2008-05-15
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 400 pages

Review
"'... deeply researched, beautifully crafted and captivating.' Praise for Rifles, Frank McLynn, Daily Express"

Spectator
Like all the best military historians, Urban has a knack of finding a perfect balance between telling personal detail and the broader historical perspective.

BBC History Magazine
Anyone interested in war-making in the 18th century will find much of value in this remarkably fair minded and deeply-researched account of the American war.

Customer Reviews

Thorough work on a complex theme
Centred on the elite 23rd (Royal Welch) Fuziliers [sic] during the American War of Independence, this book also gives an excellent account of many of the other units involved, since the light and grenadier companies of regiments were often hived off and brigaded with those of other units.

As we have come to expect from Urban, the battle accounts are both accurate and stirring, but I particulary like the way he draws on personal accounts of the war from both men and officers of both sides, many of them never published before, making it a highly engaging read. I learned a great deal about commanders such as Howe and Cornwallis, Balfour and Calvert, and the role they played not only in the fortunes of the 23rd Foot, but also in the political and military heirarchy of the time.

Readers new to the period may be surprised to learn that although the war was lost, the British and their allies suffered few actual defeats in the field; on the contrary, it was the remarkable ability of the Americans to recover from defeat after defeat that ultimately brought them victory.

The AWI has always aroused passions on both sides of the Atlantic, and whilst he concentrates on the fighting and campaigning of this conflict, Urban does not shy away from examining the tragic atrocities committed by both sides that served to polarise opinion during the war. This is a sober and refreshing antidote to some of the one-sided episodes in movies such as Mel Gibson's "The Patriot".

Overall, a thorough and humane examination of Great Britain's first major humiliation on the world stage, and the effects it had on the army the British are still justifiably proud of today. Highly recommended.

Insightful
The author has a depth of knowledge of events which are enlightening and entertaining. Much effort appears to have gone into unearthing contemporary accounts giving a refreshing and unbiased view of events with a ring of truth about them unlike the standard texts which can be misleading generalisations. Well worth the money, not only for a gripping read as well as an historical record .

A message for all aspiring officers...
I'm not sure whether Urban truly intended to write a narrative history that not only sets right many of the injustices of much of the scholarship on this era, as well as comment on the current operations in Afghanistan.

Whatever his intent, this book is brilliant, in many ways surpassing 'Rifles'. The characters are brought to life in vivid colours, their flaws and their strengths, the arrogance of certain 'Minden men', the self-righteousness on both sides, and the sheer hypocrisy of the ideologues. This is not a book for those 'Patriot' lovers; this is a very real history. The maps are first class, and Urban, as we have come to expect, cuts through the fog of war to deliver stunning detail on everything from the tactical, strategic and operational levels of war.

Any young officer, or aspiring officer, should take the lessons so clearly portrayed in it; learning organisations defeat insurgencies, as we so nearly did in the 13 Colonies. For those not in the military, take heed anyway; read this as a history of the American war, and apply much of the logic to Iraq and Afghanistan, and that is what we are up against. The lessons are clear: Doctrine, tactics, strategy, all have to work together.