Two Recent Reviews of Titles from the Journal of the American Revolution Books Series

Two outstanding reviews of titles in the Journal of the American Revolution Books Series were recently published.

In the Spring 2018 issue of Army History (https://history.army.mil/armyhistory/AH-Magazine/2018AH_spring/index.html), historian Gregory J. W. Urwin reviewed The Road to Concord: How Four Stolen Cannon Ignited the Revolutionary War by J. L. Bell.

Prof. Urwin writes,

“J. L. Bell’s The Road to Concord: How Four Stolen Cannon Ignited the Revolutionary War tackles a familiar subject—how Thomas Gage’s attempts to prevent a revolution ended up provoking one—but makes the story feel fresh by revealing how drastically the theft of four brass guns from Boston affected the British general’s judgment. . . . The Road to Concord is a rare treat—a meticulously researched study unspoiled by pedantry. The book is also one of the first titles in a series sponsored by the online Journal of the American Revolution, an exciting experiment that benefits from the combined efforts of independent scholars and professional historians dedicated to re-examining the history of this country’s founding by digging deep in previously untapped sources. Bell himself is not a professor, but the proprietor of a popular Web site about the beginning of the American Revolution, www.boston1775.net. The admirable standard that he has achieved in his first book augurs well for the other Journal of the American Revolution-sponsored books set to follow in its wake.”

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In the Spring 2018 issue of On Point: The Journal of Army History (https://armyhistory.org/on-point/), James P. Bongarra, Jr., reviewed The Invasion of Virginia 1781 by Michael Cecere.

Mr. Bongarra writes,

“Michael Cecere states in his most recent book, The Invasion of Virginia 1781, ‘Virginia, the largest of the original thirteen colonies (and, affectionately known as the Old Dominion for its loyalty to the English monarchy in the English Civil War), saw relatively little fighting for the first six years of the Revolutionary War.’ Using these perspectives as stepping stones, Cecere provides a compact, illuminating, and comprehensive narrative of the numerous military encounters that took place in Virginia during 1781. . . . The Invasion of Virginia 1781 is told in a clear, readable manner and is a worthy stand-alone work. It accomplishes Cecere’s objective of describing ‘a series of incidents and battles’ leading to the Battle of Yorktown.”

The latest in this exciting series, Washington’s War, 1779 by Benjamin Lee Huggins, tells how the attacks on Stony Point, Paulus Hook, and the Sullivan-Clinton Expedition were part of George Washington’s 1779 plan to end the war through an assault on British-held New York. The book is available for preorder.

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