The Road to Valley Forge
How Washington Built the Army That Won the Revolution
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- $29.99
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- $29.99
Publisher Description
Acclaim for The Road to Valley Forge
"Buchanan is a master of the historical narrative . . . a host of new insights into George Washington as a leader of men."
-Thomas Fleming, author of Liberty!: The American Revolution
"The Road to Valley Forge is an effective operational history, clearly written, judicious in its judgments and based on a careful look at the war from both sides."
-Jeremy Black, author of War for America: The Fight for Independence, 1775--1783
"John Buchanan skillfully guides us through 1776 and 1777, the two most critical years of the Revolutionary War for George Washington as commander in chief. With a gift for finding the apt quotation and the telling anecdote, the author traces the growth of Washington as a commanding general and the professional development of the Continental Army."
-Don Higginbotham, Professor of History, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The Road to Valley Forge tells the whole story of Washington's growth from inexperienced backwoods general to true Commander in Chief of a professional fighting force. This warts-and-all portrait of America's greatest hero reveals a courageous and intelligent man struggling desperately to learn from his mistakes, forge a motley assortment of militiamen into a real army, and demonstrate to all of his fellow Americans that they could, indeed, become masters of their own destiny.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In examining the renowned accomplishments of our first President, as well as the less dramatic, day-to-day aspects of his life, this engaging volume offers a learned and well-balanced portrait of George Washington as a general, politician, citizen, husband and thinker that ultimately supports Thomas Jefferson's assessment: "He was, indeed, in every sense of the words, a wise, a good, and a great man." Buchanan traces the development of the Revolutionary Army from the disastrous New York campaigns of 1776 to its confident emergence from Valley Forge in 1778, evaluating the events of this critical two-year period from a number of perspectives. At every step of the way, Buchanan analyzes troop movements and battlefield operations in detail, presents ample and well-chosen citations from the writings of major and minor players in the Revolutionary War, evaluates received scholarly wisdom on the interpretation of events and tests time-worn cultural myths against the historical record. Although the book clearly identifies itself with academic studies of the Revolutionary War era and Buchanan possesses an obviously deep knowledge of the period and familiarity with the important scholarship on it, he never lets the reader forget the gripping story that is at the heart of all this history. The fearful suspense of battles, the hot blood of interpersonal rivalries and the nobility of revolutionary hopes are all here and make for engaging reading, even if the more academic portions of the book may leave the reader cold.
