American Revolution.. British Point of View

jitterbugdude · Mar 26, 2017

On another thread there was a request from a Brit for books on the American Revolution that would help him understand the history of the war a little better. I have a similar request. I am a big student of the American Revolution but all of the material I have is written from the American point of view. The winners always get to write the history books so you don't always get an unbiased assessment of the situation.
So, Can anyone recommend any books written from the British point of view? I'd be particularly interested in any that were written by primary participants.

huntertrw · Mar 26, 2017

At the time of his death in July 1969 author Corey Ford was conducting research on just such a book which was to be written from the British military's point of view. I am unaware of any which have actually been written.

mikestanley · Mar 26, 2017

Isn't that the difference between winning and losing. winner writes the history?
Mike S.

davet · Mar 26, 2017

You might look for any books written about the Loyalist's that left for Canada and their stories. Many people settled in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia after leaving everything behind. Many arrived here in Fredericton and spent the first winter in tents.

jitterbugdude · Mar 26, 2017

There appear to be many books from the British perspective. The trick, like most books on history is trying to figure out which ones are BS or not. I ordered this book for starters...
https://www.amazon.com/Those-Damned-Rebels-American-Revolution/dp/0306809834/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1490540356&sr=8-1&keywords=damned+rebels

oldgeezersmoker · Mar 26, 2017

Nick Bunker, An Empire on The Edge is very good.

toobfreak · Mar 26, 2017

If you cannot get an accurate expose' from the winners, can you expect to get one from the losers? The American colonialists were treated as second-class citizens and outcasts until finally they were forced to fight for independence.
IMO, if you want to get down to the facts of what happened vs. just points of view, check out this:
Legends and Lies

ashdigger · Mar 26, 2017

Unbelievably simply and provocative summary. Winners - drink coffee in a cup. Losers - tea in the harbor.
I love books and stories about this War. Amazing how it teetered for both sides.

warren · Mar 26, 2017

The Revolution was not as simplistic as some would make. Many "Americans", the majority?, did not favor changing the relationship with the king. Most, the majority, of our founding fathers were more interested in the economics of the relationship as they were moneyed landowners. Had the Crown eased up a bit things might have been resolved in a very different manner.
Again, I can urge a member to turn to Winston S. Churchill. His The History of the English-Speaking People covers the period you are interested in. His mother was American, his father English and I think he handles the subject in an even handed manner.

pappymac · Mar 26, 2017

Wouldn't a book on the Revolutionary war from the British perspective be a bit like reading a book on the War Between the States from the Confederacy perspective?

davet · Mar 26, 2017

Wouldn't a book on the Revolutionary war from the British perspective be a bit like reading a book on the War Between the States from the Confederacy perspective?

An interesting thought occurred to me about this, not the same thing but interesting nonetheless. A few years back I remember a U.S. politician talking about reparations for properties seized from U.S. citizens in the Cuban revolution, a descendant of an Empire Loyalist in Ontario made a statement inquiring about his ancestors farm that was located in present day New York city. Different perspectives indeed. :mrgreen:

mso489 · Mar 26, 2017

I've never read an entire treatment of the American Revolution from the British perspective, but my sense is that it was not a central focus of British life at the time, not at all like the Vietnam War was in the U.S. I think the colonies were more an annoyance they were half satisfied to unload if they weren't going to willingly produce the required revenue. The Brits had difficulties of their own at the time, not the least of which was a King that was progressively unbalanced. England was still on its way up as a world power and colonial master of huge national entities like India, and invasive influence in China. So the colonies were a bitter loss but hardly a national defeat, it appears to me.

wyfbane · Mar 26, 2017

mso beat me to it. I was going to point out the other irons Britain had in the fire at the time. It would be like the winter Olympics: Losing curling, but knowing you had a lock on the figure skating and downhill skiing medals. Backed up as the colonies were against the French territories (Later the Louisiana Purchase) and capped by Canada in the north, it mustn't have looked like that terrible a loss at the time.

oldgeezersmoker · Mar 26, 2017

In 1763 the Brits expelled the French from this continent. A moment of great triumph, opening up huge new horizons. How did they manage to squander all of this in such a short period of time? The book cited above by Neil Bunker attempts to answer that question from a different perspective.

warren · Mar 26, 2017

I believe the French remained on the North American continent until President Jefferson purchased Louisiana and environs. Or, are you speaking about another continent?.

pappymac · Mar 26, 2017

The French were expelled from Nova Scotia. Many of them journeyed by boat until the settled in what became the Louisiana bayou country we also call the Acadian region or cajun country.
I remember reading somewhere that part of the cause of the Revolutionary War was the increase in taxation by the British Government because they were running out of money to pay for colonial expansion in other regions of the world.

davet · Mar 26, 2017

I believe the French remained on the North American continent until President Jefferson purchased Louisiana and environs.

The French were expelled from Nova Scotia. Many of them journeyed by boat until the settled in what became the Louisiana bayou country we also call the Acadian region or cajun country.

There was an expulsion but many remained and their descendants still live here. There is also St Pierre and Miquelon off the coast of Newfoundland, it is still French territory to this day.

Interesting stuff !

briarfriar · Mar 26, 2017

Also useful to this subject is a new book titled Brothers at Arms: American Independence and the Men of France and Spain Who Saved It by Larrie D. Ferreiro. The author contextualizes the American Revolution as just part of a much larger struggle among the great powers United Kingdom, France, and Spain. To the Continental monarchies, America was not a fight for the rights of man, but was a struggle to avenge the loss of 1763 and to restrain the seemingly unstoppable British.

aldecaker · Mar 26, 2017

More than a few influential Brits were convinced that after a dozen years or so, the newly independent colonies would come, hat in hand, begging to be taken back in to the Empire. Or so I have read.

oldgeezersmoker · Mar 26, 2017

Right.But still, GB had, it seemed, everything going their way in the great power struggle. How did they manage to squander all of that? Maybe events in London need to be examined as meticulously as events in Boston and Philadelphia. We all know the mistakes the British made, Stamp Act, Tea Tax, restrictions on trans Appalachian settlement, etc. Were the actors on the British side just stupid and greedy?
Precision while watching tournament basketball is not my strong suit.

American Revolution.. British Point of View

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