Blue Water Patriots: The American Revolution Afloat Review

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(More customer reviews)"Blue water Patriots', an aggravating book fit only to be used as a fly-swatter, repeatedly insults American patriots' motives, thoughts, and opinions before and during the ARW without any basis in facts in the form of quotes from letters or speeches of specific persons of that time. This is a "take the names and dates" collection, that's more "BNA Tory" in attitude than Whig, (British or American). The author would have been liberally coated in 78 degree F. tar, and feathers, rather than winning a B. A. for scholarship, had he written this mulch in Boston in 1775.
In the same sentence in which he calls groups of British sailors "jack-tars", (customarily armed for 1774 impressment duties in Boston with wooden cudgels the size and weight of Babe Ruth's baseball bats), he calls the unarmed colonial farmers and sailors confronted by them "thugs". He mentions that colonials were upset about the actions of certain British Navy ships patrolling the waters near isolated communities; but never says why. He never mentions that at least one of the captains whose ships were burned to the waterline by angry Americans made it his barely-legal habit to send bands of his ship's "jack-tars" sweeping into isolated farms, where they took part or all of a year's hard-earned winter food stores, paying with paper script which could only be redeemed in cities hundreds of miles away by sea.
The book is derivative, however it appears to have derived only the attitudes of British Tories during their most foolish period of British rule, not the reasoned opinions of the men of time, British or American.
He writes of the Stamp Act and the Intolerable Acts as if they were good things that the colonials just didn't understand. This book is a sly slam on our cash-poor, hard-working, brave, long-dead ancestors, long after the fact. Don't waste your money, time, or emotional peace-of-mind on wanting to rip it up with your bare hands. SKIP IT!

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John Barry: An American Hero in the Age of Sail Review

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(More customer reviews)I have just finished reading this book, and although I have never written a book review before I feel compelled to write a few lines of praise about "JOHN BARRY: An American Hero in the Age of Sail". The history of the American Navy at sea during the Revolutionary War is a subject I know little about, except for, of course, John Paul Jones. This book is very well researched by Tim McGrath; it may be his first book but I hope it is not his last. The writing is superb and the descriptive naratives of raging storms at sea as well as numerous sea battles engaged in by Barry are [honest to God] suspenseful and literally kept me on the edge of my seat. [Historical biographies do not normally affect me in this fashion.] The fact that the first sea battle, as well as the last, of the Revolutionary War at sea was won by an American Navy vessel captained by John Barry says much about this unknown hero. However, Barry was very well known, in his day, for his sailing and fighting prowess and, in fact, was appointed by President George Washington as the first commissioned officer in the new United States Navy.

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Captains Contentious: The Dysfunctional Sons of the Brine (Studies in Maritime History) Review

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(More customer reviews)CAPTAINS CONTENTIOUS: THE DYSFUNCTIONAL SONS OF THE BRINE comes from a maritime historian who offers a survey and analysis of five captains in the Continental Navy, considering how their personality flaws hindered their careers and enhanced their actions in the Revolutionary War. Perfect for college-level American history libraries, this uses primary and secondary sources alike to present biographical sketches that illustrate the nature and impact of their actions on world history and local events alike.

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If By Sea: The Forging of the American Navy -From the Revolution to the War of 1812 Review

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(More customer reviews)I am not sure what book the other reviewers read but I don't think it was If By Sea. This book is essentially a general history of the U.S. from the Revolution to the end of the War of 1812. Its general focus is on how the events of that period effected the formation of the U.S. Navy. Certainly not for serious naval readers and I did not find it to be tales of glory either.
If you are familiar with the era I think the book will bore you. Not due to the writing style which is straight forward if not very compelling. You get a great deal of set-up for each policy decision which if you know the era will be old hat. And even if you have read a few general histories I don't think you'll find much new here as regards the navy- I did not. (The page on the building frigates boilded down most of a chapter in the book Six Frigates)
Little attention is actually paid to the navy itself. Why were the politicians so split on a navy? We get the same explanations you'll read elsewhere: one side thought it was too expensive, a threat to liberty and would drag the U.S. into wars; the other a necessity to uphold American honor among nations. Nothing new here. In fact, there is little in the way of detailing and analyzing these points of view. They certainly merit both.
Further, there is a good deal of negative criticism heaped on naval tactics without any analysis as to why such tactical decisions where actually made. Example- author states the Bostonians could have overrun the British fleet in port at the outset of hostilities with quick hit and run tactics, boarding parties and small ships hiding numerous inlets. Why were those tactics not employed? No explanation is offered. This is not a miliarty history so even while battles are not described in any detail the tactics are criticized. Odd.
This was a missed opportunity. A scholarly analysis of the pro-navy and anti-navy factions certainly warrants attention. An academic approach to answering why a predominately maritime culture had such a hard time creating a navy would have been welcomed. Throw in the sections relating & contrasting the United Colonies/U.S. navy with various era's privateers, Washington's navy, revenue cutters and merchant marine and you would really have something.
I can't even recommend this book for people just starting out reading about the origins of the navy and/or the early U.S. There are better general histories of the era (The Glorious Cause; Alden's A History of the American Revolution) which will actually cover the navy debates. There are also some good books about the early navy (Fowler's Rebels Under Sail and his follow-up Jack Tars & Commodores, the recent Washington's Secret Navy and Six Frigates).


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Benedict Arnold's Navy: The Ragtag Fleet That Lost the Battle of Lake Champlain but Won the American Revolution Review

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(More customer reviews)James Nelson is an author to be envied if the notion of putting pen to paper and telling a story, whether it be fact or fiction has ever occurred to you. In the fourteen books he has written he has done both fiction and non-fiction superbly.
His previous non-fiction efforts have focused on the civil war navies and in particular the Confederate Navy, which is a little told, but very interesting facet of that war.
His fiction pieces have dealt with pirates and with the Revolutionary War and hopefully there will be more of those forthcoming as well.
In his latest he takes a man whose name stands for treachery and tells of his role in helping America to ultimate victory during our war for independance.
Benedict Arnold, the ultimate traitor, was for 30 months one of America's most stalwart military figures enduring great sacrifice and exhibiting much bravery.
Those of us who live in Maine are familiar with the story of Arnold's March to Quebec and The Arnold Trail is a route through Maine which somewhat follows that daring and brave adventure. For a number of years, I have fished and hunted in the area of Chain of Ponds and Coburn Gore where Arnold and his men passed through and while it is generally known that it was a difficult passage, you have no idea until you have read Mr. Nelson's account of it.
This is a definitive account of a part of the Revoltionary War which has received scant attention until now, so if well written history interests you, let James Nelson take you through it. It is quite a trip!

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