Whirlwind

March 23, 2015
Ferling (Jefferson and Hamilton) enhances an impressive list of publications on the American Revolution with a fast-paced survey that echoes Carl Beard and 1930s historiography in its assertion that the revolutionâs roots were economic. However, Ferling is not a single-issue determinist, paying ample attention to the argument that American colonists believed revolt âcould usher in a better world.â For the sake of that world, they fought an all-out war, one they almost lost and in which âabout one in sixteen free American males of military age died.â Furling handles the conflictâs ups and downs with a professorial ease, complemented by mastery of a broad spectrum of primary and secondary sources. He smoothly and clearly covers the battles from Bunker Hill to Yorktown, and presents the development of an ideology of revolution that engaged increasing numbers of the âpolitically impotent.â Given the improvised nature of the rebelsâ war effort, Ferling suggests that rather than the Americans winning, the British lost through strategic overextension and ineffective command. He also excels at detailing the hammering out of governmental institutions from a kaleidoscope of provincial assemblies, town meetings, and church pulpits. The result was a ânew-model experimental polityâ that remains a work in progress.

Starred review from January 15, 2015
From servants to citizens: a nuanced study of the American Revolution focused on how the war changed the way Americans saw themselves.Having written abundantly about the Revolutionary War, accomplished scholar Ferling (Emeritus, History/Univ. of West Georgia; Jefferson and Hamilton: The Rivalry that Forged a Nation, 2013, etc.) employs his extensive knowledge to relay a tremendously complicated and multilayered story of the gradual embracing of ideas of independence by the once-loyal colonists. Economic incentives drove the colonists to question the relationship with the mother country. They were offended by having to pay for Britain's chronic warfare, furnish soldiers and then endure England's "coldhearted indifference" to matters of the colonists' "vital interests." Attempts by Britain to enforce imperial trade laws-by the end of the Seven Years' War in 1763, one-third of England's trade was with the colonists-only led to more alarm that Britain was scheming to take away liberties. Little by little, the colonists began to react, and Ferling takes note of certain important early firebrands, e.g.-Virginia's Patrick Henry, Boston's Samuel Adams, John Dickinson and his "Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania." Others, such as Benjamin Franklin, emissary to London, played both sides until they were sure which way the wind was blowing. Ferling effectively shows how the colonists' sense of themselves changed from the very bottom up. From deep in the provincial hamlets, they were organizing, training their militias and accepting more egalitarian proclivities and self-governing practices, such as freedom from the Anglican yoke. Hostilities against Britain provoked a "rooted hatred" for the mother country and a "growing sense of identity as Americans," although the outcome was in no way certain. In fact, for many years, it looked quite bleak. Ferling impressively demonstrates how the military reality eventually galvanized the fledgling country. A first-rate historian's masterful touch conveys the profound changes to colonists' "hearts and minds."

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March 15, 2015

The latest work from presidential biographer Ferling (emeritus, history, Univ. of West Georgia; Jefferson and Hamilton; John Adams) argues that the American Revolution (1765-83), or rather the specific timing of it, was caused largely by economic factors. Ferling further states that severing ties with Great Britain allowed colonists greater control over their own destinies, and freed them to create the ideal society they desired. Beginning with the later stages of the French and Indian War, the author explains the thought patterns leading up to the idea of separation from the mother country. Throughout the work, one gets a sense of growing momentum as the conflict takes shape. The author makes a distinction between the struggle's military side and the actual revolution, meaning governmental and societal change. The result is an objective history that emphasizes the political and military events of the era. VERDICT Ferling has created another accessible yet scholarly work on the American Revolution. While its primary appeal is to history buffs, academics looking for an introductory survey history should also find this work useful.--Matthew Wayman, Pennsylvania State Univ. Lib., Schuylkill Haven

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