Revolution on the Hudson: New York City and the Hudson River Valley in the American War of Independence

I saw this book at Barnes and Noble and it was a paperback. Amazon sent a very nice hardcover book with jacket. Very nice indeed. I also bought Northern Armageddon....and just as pleased. I have purchased books from Amazon some 14 times now, and I have yet to be disappointed. Deliveries have been on time or early, and quality outstanding.

I loved this book because it gave me a much deeper insight into the impact of the battles and strategies that took place in an area where I had not realized had such significant importance of the impact of what took place there..Mr Daughan once again kept me spellbound with his descriptions of characters and events that most of us never realized. I am always impressed with research and detail that goes into his books. Enjoy this wonderful adventure. J Couture

Although it was a detailed history of the Revolution, I found it boring to read because it had so much small detail, it became almost overbearing. It read like a history book written for historians. No doubt the author had done a great amount of research to uncover such detail about the battles, it just didnt flow well. It did give a very interesting picture into the court of King George and the assumptions they made about America, which lead them to underestimate the desire of the patriots to be free of English rule. The descriptions of the difficulty that George Washington had in obtaining funds to pay the army was an eye opener. The book was just not an easy read.

What a thought provoking book about the American Revolution. I agree that Daughans narrative was insightful and inspiring to being aware of the historical context of our success in bring about a peaceful resolution to the conflict. I hope Daughan writes more on the land battles in the state of New York during the War, especially at Saratoga

Well written,great attention to detail. Author complete understanding of subject matter on both battlefield, sea board and lake come through in his writing and also his unique take away of the revolution. Good maps and a fresh box set pins are a must. Details are that good.

When I bought this book I was expecting to learn more about the frontier fights in the Mohawk Valley, the partisan warfare which went on for years around Westchester County and the development of the stronghold at West Point, but this book doesnt really delve into those items. In the opening, closing, and places in the book, the author makes the point that the British fixated on a flawed strategy of seizing the Hudson to separate the New England colonies from the others, but there isnt a detailed analysis of why this strategy is flawed. This is a good readable review of the American Revolution, but this doesnt live up to the promise of its title.

My family has long ties to New York and I read Revolution on the Hudson to gain new information and found it. I bought 2 copies of the book to distribute to fellow amateur historians. This is a must read for all wanting to know more about our American story and struggles. Good information on how the British viewed our Revolution. Good added details I didnt know.

Many authors have demonstrated the seemingly infinite ways the story of America’s revolution may be told and re-told by concentrating, for instance, on pivotal battles (see, Richard Ketchum’s superb “Saratoga: Turning Point of America’s Revolutionary War”) or locales (see, Richard Berleth’s splendid “Bloody Mohawk: The French and Indian War and American Revolution on New York’s Frontier). From the title of this work, I assumed that Author Daughan’s approach was going to be similar to Berleth’s, that is, a concentration, both geographical and events-oriented, on the Hudson Valley. I was incorrect. But that’s not to say that I was necessarily disappointed. One doesn’t get far into the book to realize that Daughan’s account is going to be more far-ranging and comprehensive than the title suggests. In fact, what the reader is presented is a well-told story that (whether the author intended it or not) amounts to a strategic view of the war, particularly from the British standpoint. In discussing the give’s and take’s on both sides of the struggle, Daughan indulges in a good deal of supposition and inference, coming down hard, for instance, on Washington’s early misjudgments and especially on the British military leadership’s inability to work together (to say nothing of their relations with their London overseers), with eventually cataclysmic results. While the author’s frequent conclusory dispositions largely accord with my understanding of the actors’ strengths and weaknesses, I found Daughan’s unrelenting “rights” and “wrongs” adjudications slightly off-putting. Having said all that, the author does an excellent job of relating the ebb’s and flows of the war in a relatively short work. And the lessons never learned by King George III and his ministers are once again manifest; their hilariously optimistic take on the loyalists’ willingness to rally to the Jack, never mind their fighting dispositions; the tenacity of the “rebels,” and their inconsistent but always-improving ability to fight; and, lastly, the sheer size of America which absolutely precluded the investiture and maintenance of control of any significant part of the country. And if a reader is intrigued by the wrong-headedness of Britain’s ambitions and strategic shortcomings, I highly recommend Andrew O’Shaughnessy’s “The Men Who Lost America,” a simply delightful recounting of the roles of the principal King’s actors in the loss of the continent. So, while I was slightly disappointed by the author’s not sticking to his purported subject, I must say that I was impressed with his digressions, and suggest that this would be a fine introductory work for someone new to the history of the war which would undoubtedly whet the reader’s appetite for more specialized treatments.

Good read. Like history woven through stort

Great book-very informative and well written--about an interesting era in our History. As a History buff, I enjoy reading about the Revolution and how it could have gone very wrong for the future of our country. Especially interesting was the part pl;ayed by Benedict Arnold in this book as well as other books concerning his history and why he chose to betray his country. George Rosner