Almost a Miracle: The American Victory in the War of Independence | John Ferling

Almost a Miracle: The American Victory in the War of Independence | John Ferling | Good Book

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Almost a Miracle: ...

	Almost a Miracle: The American Victory in the War of Independence John Ferling Oxford University Press, USA, 2007 - 704 pages average customer review:based on 27 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

In this gripping chronicle of America's struggle for independence, award-winning historian John Ferling transports readers to the grim realities of that war, capturing an eight-year conflict filled with heroism, suffering, cowardice, betrayal, and fierce dedication. As Ferling demonstrates, it was a war that America came much closer to losing than is now usually remembered. General George Washington put it best when he said that the American victory was "little short of a standing miracle."
Almost a Miracle offers an illuminating portrait of America's triumph, offering vivid descriptions of all the major engagements, from the first shots fired on Lexington Green to the surrender of General Cornwallis at Yorktown, revealing how these battles often hinged on intangibles such as leadership under fire, heroism, good fortune, blunders, tenacity, and surprise. The author paints sharp-eyed portraits of the key figures in the war, including General Washington and other American officers and civilian leaders. Some do not always measure up to their iconic reputations, including Washington himself. Others, such as the quirky, acerbic Charles Lee, are seen in a much better light than usual. The book also examines the many faceless men who soldiered, often for years on end, braving untold dangers and enduring abounding miseries. The author explains why they served and sacrificed, and sees them as the forgotten heroes who won American independence. Ferling's narrative is also filled with compassion for the men who comprised the British army and who, like their American counterparts, struggled and died at an astonishing rate in this harsh war. Nor does Ferling ignore the naval war, describing dangerous patrols and grand and dazzling naval actions.
Finally, Almost a Miracle takes readers inside the legislative chambers and plush offices of diplomats to reveal countless decisions that altered the course of this war. The story that unfolds is at times a tale of folly, at times one of appalling misinformation and confusion, and now and then one of insightful and dauntless statesmanship.

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A Great Read!

I'm just an average person who read this book to become more familiar with a topic that I last studied in high school many years ago. I'm not an historian. This book is well written, interesting to read, easy to understand and a complete package. It covers both the highlights and the low points of both the war and the war's participants. Even George Washington gets criticized. My only complaint with this book is that there are not enough maps of the battlefields. Nonetheless, this is a great book that provided me with a better understanding of the military and political conflicts arising out of the Revolutionary War.

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Good Book

Makes you wonder how they did it....they must have had a great deal of intestinal fortitude and a great belief in independence.....

Excellent all around book about Revolutionary War!

What a well written book. This book may look big and overwhelming, but give it a try. The author has a writing style that just consumes you. Before you know you have read 50 pages and learned something new on each page. Gives information on all aspects of the war. I would highly encourage people to read this book.

Great history but several flaws

Author John Ferling brings the Revolutionary War to life. He kept me interested with his descriptions of battles and the men who planned and fought them. I had not known that Gen. Washington didn't like confrontation and elected to fight a "war of posts". It's a defensive strategy that hurts the enemy at the edges but does no real harm; dragging the war out to the point where the enemy gives up deciding it's no longer worth fighting.

There are several battles that could have been turning points in either direction but because of human failure, equipment failure, weather, or just plan miraculous luck, no single battle was truly decisive.

Ferling does a great job in bringing the personalities of the leadership into focus. And the descriptions of the conditions the soldiers had to endure gave me new respect and admiration for those who fought and died at the birth of our nation.

The flaws in this book are:

1. The book has numerous typos. I realize that some typos are normal but it seems to me that the number here is pretty large.

2. Some of the maps seem to be in odd places where there was no direct discussion of the battle. It would be helpful to have a map appendix and reference a page and and map number in the text.

3. The book touches on the role of women in the war but is in a chapter that doesn't make sense. It should have been a chapter of it's own.

Despite the flaws, I recommend this book to anyone who wants to read a realistic history of the war that brings the events and players to life.

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Very Good Military History

I greatly enjoyed "Almost a Miracle", which reviewed the Revolutionary war from the point of view of the military. It is intended by the author as a companion volume to "A Leap in the Dark" (2003) which covers the political side of the war. (Full disclosure: I have not read the earlier book.)

Plusses: + The military focus filled in for me a side of the war that I was not as familiar with. + The book covered military action throughout the country, including that in the South. The latter is presented as pivotal in the outcome of the war; the other books I have read on the war gloss over much of the Southern action and focus on the North. + The book features biographical summaries for many senior officers on both sides, along with portraits, who are not given much attention in most Revolutionary War books.

Minuses: - The author can sometimes be excruciatingly repetitive, as evidenced by his use of the words "Fabian strategy" at least 10 or 20 times throughout the book. - About half-way through the book, the author starts using an excessive number of idiomatic phrases. Two examples, of the many scattered throughout the text: one general was "hot under the collar"; two others where "not on the same wavelength". I felt that the latter phrase was especially egregious due to its anachronistic nature; radio waves were not even invented until the late 19th century. These may be nits; however, a good editor could have cleaned them up.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

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