THE WAR WE COULD HAVE LOST: The American Revolution

Don't expect any new insights on the war we could have, and technically should have, lost. In fact most one-volume histories at this level take a broader view of the political and logistical problems faced by the British; Alderman sticks to individual, tactical errors and tacks on a concluding chapter blaming George III personally for instigating the conflict in the first place and then picking such an odd lot of generals. At another level, this account does excel in the clear and colorful accounts of individual engagements, each briefly placed in strategic perspective and buttressed by descriptions of the battleground terrain and surrounding countryside. Indeed Alderman's battle reports, with their accompanying maps, night well spark some interest in local history though more mature readers will be impatient with his skin-deep analysis.