Revolution on the Hudson; New York City and the Hudson River Valley in the American War of Independence

Geoff Hunt (DJ front cover painting) and Mary Shee New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2016. First Edition [Stated], First Printing [Stated]. Hardcover. [16], 416 pages. Maps. Illustrations (8 pages). Notes. Select Bibliography. Index. Signed by the author on the title page. George C. Daughan received a Ph. D. in American history and government from Harvard University, where he studied under Henry Kissinger. After Harvard, he spent three years in the United States Air Force during the Vietnam War. Most of the time he taught at the Air Force Academy, where he was director of the MA program in international affairs. On returning to civilian life, he became a professor at Connecticut College, and also taught at the University of Colorado, the University of NH, and Wesleyan University. One of his previous books, If By Sea, won the Samuel Eliot Morison Award for Naval Literature, and he has been honored with the Samuel Eliot Morison Award from the USS Constitution Museum for his work as a naval scholar. The untold story of the fight for the Hudson River Valley, control of which, both the Americans and the British firmly believed, would determine the outcome of the Revolutionary War. No part of the country was more contested during the American Revolution than New York City, the Hudson River, and the surrounding counties. Political and military leaders on both sides viewed the Hudson River Valley as the American jugular, which, if cut, would quickly bleed the rebellion to death. So in 1776, King George III sent the largest amphibious force ever assembled to seize Manhattan and use it as a base from which to push up the Hudson River Valley for a grand rendezvous at Albany with an impressive army driving down from Canada. George Washington and every other patriot leader shared the king’s fixation with the Hudson. Generations of American and British historians have held the same view. In fact, one of the few things that scholars have agreed upon is that the British strategy, though disastrously executed, should have been swift and effective. Until now, no one has argued that this plan of action was lunacy from the beginning. Revolution on the Hudson makes the bold new argument that Britain’s attempt to cut off New England never would have worked, and that doggedly pursuing dominance of the Hudson ultimately cost the crown her colonies. It unpacks intricate military maneuvers on land and sea, introduces the personalities presiding over each side’s strategy, and reinterprets the vagaries of colonial politics to offer a thrilling response to one of our most vexing historical questions: How could a fledgling nation have defeated the most powerful war machine of the era? George C. Daughan winner of the prestigious Samuel Eliot Morison Award for Naval Literature integrates the war’s naval elements with its political, military, economic, and social dimensions to create a major new study of the American Revolution. Revolution on the Hudson offers a much clearer understanding of our founding conflict, and how it transformed a rebellion that Britain should have crushed into a war they could never win. Condition: Very good / Very good.

Keywords: American Revolution, War of Independence, Hudson River Valley, Battle of Brooklyn, Battle of Trenton, HMS Phoenix, HMS Rose, Henry Clinton, John Burgoyne, Benedict Arnold, Siege of Yorktown, Nathanael Greene, William Howe, George Rodney

ISBN: 9780393245721

[Book #85465]

Price: $135.00

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