This is a great read even though I have some issues on various points in regard to Thomas Fleming’s views and conclusions. None of them interfered with my intense pleasure in this well written book which not only gives us a dramatic narrative that is both personal and yet comprehensive, politically and militarily, but it evokes the suffering, the sacrifices and the individual price this war cost more effectively than other books I have read on the topic.
In addition, no one I have read shows us the contribution that horses made and their suffering as well. I did take exception to Fleming telling us that Benedict Arnold and James Wilkerson shot their horses in the head when they left Canada which I found disconcerting, disturbing and gratuitous. He did not comment on it or make any point about it one way or the other. It did not seem at all justifiable and if not, I do think that Fleming should have made such an observation.
While it is intimidating to question a historian the stature of Fleming nonetheless, I do take issue with his disdainful attitude toward the British Parliament because only 2% of the population elected the House of Commons. To me we need more balance and perspective; better 2% than 0% as was the case in almost every other country except in the American colonies. I have a deep appreciation for those 2% British elections in spite of their limitations. It still embodied the concept of the consent of the governed.
Without the eternal rights of Englishman guaranteed in the colonial Charters rooted in the British constitution, the American colonies would not have made such advances including consent of the governed, & elected lower houses with the power of the purse. It reminds me of Isaac Newton who said that if he had seen further than other men it was because he was standing on the shoulders of giants. Similarly if the American colonies had progressed more in widening the base of participation in government, it was because they also had been standing on the shoulders of giants. The Americans had learned liberty from the British.
There is no time to go on and do an in-depth review I might do but let me add this one thing. There is one person more than any other single individual who is responsible for the American Revolution and that is King George III and I did not think Fleming put that squarely on his head to my satisfaction. The king had no concept or appreciation for what those written charters meant and what the American colonists had done to govern themselves before he came to the throne in 1760 during the French and Indian War.
Regardless of my caveats, I love this book and cannot recommend it highly enough. I was sorry when it was done. If you have any interest in the American Revolution, you will find it as compelling as I did. I wanted more attention to Benedict Arnold and it took
too many pages before Fleming finally properly depicted the American General Horatio Gates for the coward that he was. Fleming never quite gave enough credit for the bravery, and bold leadership provided by Arnold on the battle field.
There are so many good quotations all through the book that you will want to record some of them. However I must disagree with Fleming when he said the choice was between American liberty vs British liberty. The choice was between American liberty and British soft tyranny under King George III, make no mistake.
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