The First American Army: The Untold Story of George Washington and the Men Behind America's First Fight for Freedom

by Bruce Chadwick

Book Overview

This is the first book that offers a you-are-there look at the American Revolution through the eyes of the enlisted men. Through searing portraits of individual soldiers, Bruce Chadwick, author of... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1402205066
• ISBN13: 9781402205064
• Release Date: January 2005
• Publisher: Sourcebooks
• Length: 399 Pages
• Weight: 1.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.4" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

A 1776 follow-up

If you loved the book "1776" you will love this book. It is written much the same way. The author mixes first hand accounts with explanations of events and strategic implications. He also focuses on things most authors forget. This book is an excellent way to tell the story of the American Revolution. The author tells the story of George Washington's Army through the eyes of those who fought it. He does intermingle some background history to help the reader better understand what the soldier writes about. Where as his history isn't comprehensive it is enriching. He does talk about certain campaigns of the American Army like our attempt to capture Canada which most people forget about. Through the eyes of the soldiers you get a true idea of the kinds of sacrifices the first soldiers endured to bring about our freedom. The descriptions are good in the soldiers writings makes you personnally feel these sacrifices. The writing makes the issues facing the Army like disease outbreaks like small pox, walking around in snow without shoes, hunger and other things come alive almost like you are experiencing it. You will understand the Revolution better than anything else by reading this book. I highly recommend this book for any history lover no matter what your level of history knowledge is.

Ordinary people make history, too

I really enjoyed this book. It brought to life in vivid detail the deprivations and tribulations faced by the ordinary soldier in the Revolutionary Army. There have been so many books written about the leaders of the Revolution (some good, some pretty boring), but so few volumes about the ordinary men who made up the colonial troops. These people were the foundation of the new country and they deserve to be documented. The author chooses to give us their stories in an interesting way and paints word pictures that let the reader see exactly what conditions were like for the common soldiers. I was fascinated and could hardly put the book down. If all history was presented in this easy to understand and interesting way, more students would love it as much as I do.

Will all elitist reviewers please stand up.

Are these reviewers for real? Undeserving nobodies and too many african-americans? Please. A book long overdue and an enjoyable read. A tribute to the 243,000 ordinary nobodies,(black and white) who fought at some period in the Revolution,risked it all and paid high prices.

A View of Washington's Army from the Bottom

Having spent my time in the Army as a low level grunt I was fascinated to see this story of the view from the bottom of Washington's Army. The eight men whose diaries and letters Dr. Chadwick used as the main basis of the story were not exceptional men, they were just ordinary men in extraordinary times. And they happened to be on the winning side so that their story gets told. Surprisingly the book makes the life of the grunt surprisingly like that of our own: talking with friends, drinking, playing cards -- bored most of the, time scared the rest -- and it's always too hot, or too cold; too wet or too dusty. It takes some effort to remember things like the quality of medical care, where things like germs, drugs, anesthesia hadn't been discovered/invented yet. Dr. Chadwick has done a supurb job of research in an area previously ignored. There are many books talking about Washington, the various battles, and so on. This book covers new ground and is great reading.

A fun read

I certainly enjoyed this "bottom-up" look at the revolution. I've read "1776," "His Excellency," and others on the Revolution (and don't get me wrong, those are good books) but this has been the most interesting book I've read on the subject, so far. Because, it follows the ordinary guys. The grunts that I've always figured I would be had I lived in that period. Just what did those guys have to go through? This book gives you a good look. I didn't give it a 5 star rating because at some points in the book, I found it to be repetitive and some of the paragraphs would jump from one subject to another with no real flow. It's knit-picky, I know, but the book could have used a better editor. Other than that, if you like the subject, you'll like this book.