FREE MEN MUST STAND: The American War of Independence

An efficient and orderly account of the American Revolution, this is an invaluable supplement to the school texts which are apt to be, often through necessity, rushed and sketchy or locally blased. There is some material here which school history texts might not examine in detail -- the administrative squabbles crupting around Washington; the circumstances of Cornwallis' defeat and the anxious waiting for the peace treaty; and the incredible violence and savagery of the fighting. There are also some new heroes presented, but in general the effect is of a terse, unemotional report, with no pause for a relaxed breath from the reader. For the research shelf -- not the rumpus room.