No comments about American Prisoners of the Revolution.

No comments about Black Courage 1775-1783: Documentation of Black Participation in the American Revolution.

1 comments about Rockdale: The Growth of an American Village in the Early Industrial Revolution.

1. Living west of Philadelphia, you get a sense of history just seeing old mill remnants and stone homes. This lets you see how they got there. My side of Aston, PA is the site of all this going on, people, mills, economics, religion. Neat book.

No comments about Mariners of the American Revolution.

5 comments about Revolution Downeast: The War for American Independence in Maine.

1. I had to read a Historical Non-Fiction book for my History class. I chose this one because it only had 223 pages. Everyone else had to read like a 600 page book. But, I payed my price. I think that this book sucks.(and that's being nice). I have never read anything so boring in my life. It is like reading 300 pages out of your history book. I know some people are actually in to this stuff,(if you have no life). So learn from my mistakes and please never ever read this lousy book. THE END.



2. The Revolution in Maine has been by and large ignored by professional historians but Leamon effectively reveals the dimensions of revolutionary events in Maine. One need not be a professional, however, in order to enjoy this book. Leamon's prose makes the book's content both accessible and enjoyable. :) I highly recommend this book.



3. Professor Leamon's wealth of knowledge and pithy style make this book a delight. I'm not a fan of positivistic approaches to history, but Leamon's insights, analysis, and strong literary voice endow Revolution Downeast with special character. It is obvious that Mr. Leamon devoted years of his professional career to ensuring the durability and integrity of his work.



4. _Revoltion Downeast_ is a fascinating look at the role Maine played in the American Revolution. While not quite the density of Prof. Baiylin's work, the book can be slow going. Being a Maine native myself, I found this book to be particularly interesting. Reading about the American Fleet at Penobscot Bay, I didn't know whether I should laugh or cry. This is definately a must read for anyone from around here.



5. This is a fine book - James Leamon gives the reader very interesting insights into this field of history. I have a post-modern view of academics and enjoy finding information that is ignored by others for one reason or another. Any serious student (especially of this period) will find this book a valued addition to his of her own library. I rate it 5 stars and a thanks to the author.

No comments about Roster of South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution. Volume I, A-J.

No comments about Historical Collections of the Georgia Chapters, Daughter of the American Revolution. Vol. 1: Seventeen Georgia Counties Published with an Index by Lelia Thornton Gentry.

1 comments about American Loyalists Claims: Abstracted from the Public Record Office (Audit Office Series 13, Volume 1 Bundles 1-35 and 37).

1. An invaluable asset to both genealogists, and historians, interested in the Loyalists of the American Revolution. I have made extensive use of Coldham's work, found it accurate and, seemingly, error free. Indexing of both persons and subjects is astonishingly complete, and one only wishes that a second volume may be forthcoming.

3 comments about The Revolutionary War in the Hackensack Valley: The Jersey Dutch and the Neutral Ground, 1775-1783.

1. Leiby's book draws on a range of primary sources and concentrates on the Hackensack River Valley in New Jersey (extending up to Rockland County, NY). Few modern books go into as much detail for this region as does Leiby. His documentation is sound and he uses it to construct a dramatic narrative of the Revolutionary period. Excellent also for genealogists. However, genealogists may sometimes be a little frustrated that Leiby chose the most archaic form of each surname rather than attempt to arbitrate the most "accurate" spelling.

   One serious complaint, from the perspective of an historian, is that Leiby sometimes seems methodologically naive in his nearly uncritical support for the American side. He does not try to understand the Loyalists. Many of them were decent people, as demonstrated by books such as Philip Ranlet's The New York Loyalists. I think Leiby's book would have been much richer for it. Leiby is definitely worth reading.




2. This was a great book for learning about the events, the backdrop of religious civil war, and the loyalties of the inhabitants of Bergen County during the American Revolution. The book is well written and fairly thorough. It will be of interest to anyone who wants to know how the Revolution played out in one area for the entire duration of the war. More interesting since it was a hotly contested area where neighbors had a visceral hatred for each other.

   The writer is unabashedly pro American, but so what? At least he's not veiling his biases as is the tendency of far too many historians.

   I do wish that the maps were a)more readible, b) accompanied by modern maps for comparison -- I still can't find where Liberty Pole is/was.




3. Most people with even the most basic understanding of the founding of America and the conflicts this country went through know that Virginia was the main battleground for the American Civil War. The first large-scale engagement was fought in Manassas and Lee surrendered in Appomattox, and Virginia has done an excellent job with it's "Civil War Trails" highlighting this history.

   Why then, is New Jersey not given the same attention for its role in the war? This book, a perfect companion to "Washington's Partizan War", gives a wonderful account of what seven years of war in northern New Jersey and southern New York was like.

   Besides the British occupying New York City and several blockhouses across the river in New Jersey, this theater of the war was very different. The inhabitants were almost all Dutch, either remnants of New Netherlands or adopted by the culture, but of two very different view points on both religion and politics. A disagreement over governance of the Dutch Reformed Church in the 1760s spilled over into the Revolution, with lines being drawn between Tory and Whig, Loyalist and Rebel. Though the Carolina Backcountry gets most of the attention of the "civil war" aspect of the Revolution, what went on in New Jersey was on a larger scale and longer duration.

   This book will not only tell you of the "Retreat Across the Jerseys", the battles of Paramus, Paulus Hook, Hackensack, Bull's Ferry, the Tappan Massacre, etc., but it is wonderfully documented with detailed footnotes, the mark of any good scholarly work. Any student of the area or the war will appreciate the leads this gives for in depth study on this topic.

5 comments about Eighteen Minutes: The Battle of San Jacinto and the Texas Independence Campaign.

1. The brave Texans who fought and died in the Battle of San Jacinto are only remembered in the footnotes of Modern U.S. History books and have never received credit for their magnanimous victory on the fields of San Jacinto. Rallying around the battle cry of the infamous phrases "Remember the Alamo" and "Remember Goliad," the Texan Army gained their independence by routing the Mexican Army of Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna Perez de Lebron (Otherwise known as Santa Anna to mortals). Stephen L. Moore's "Eighteen Minutes" uses the battle as a background to tell the story of the Texan Independence Campaign and the men who fought in it. In fact, Moore goes into too much detail by telling readers the names, ranks, and background of just about everyone who fought in the San Jacinto campaign, which is several thousand Texans and Mexicans combined. Exaggerations aside, "Eighteen Minutes" is a great book for those history buffs around the country, and I picked it up wanting to learn more about a war that is barely covered or remembered. I do not recommend it for anyone wanting a page-turner, but it is great history and a great history novel. Finally, the Texan freedom-fighters are given the credit they deserve. From one history buff to another, I applaud your effort Mr. Moore.



2. Written by a sixth generation Texan and a descendant of fighters who themselves battled for Texas independence, Eighteen Minutes: The Battle Of San Jacinto And The Texas Independence Campaign is an extensive retelling of the critical battle that established Texas as the Lone Star Republic, independent from Mexico. Drawing directly from and telling its story through the words of over 120 Texan and Mexican soldiers, Eighteen Minutes follows the actions of General Sam Houston and his Texas volunteers from one week after the fall of the Alamo to his victory at San Jacinto. Eighteen Minutes is an exhaustively researched, superbly written military history, laying out the brief yet utterly decisive battle in minute detail.



3. On a warm, partly cloudy afternoon on Thursday, April 21st in 1836 a smaller, poorly trained, ragtag army attacked a larger, better equipped force. In 18 minutes, a nation was born and over a million acres of land changed ownership. Ranked as one of the decisive battles of the western world,the author has done an excellent job tracing the history of the San Jacinto Campaign of the Texas Revolution. Using maps and first hand accounts (many of which have seldom seen the light of day) Stephen Moore tracks both the Texian and Mexican forces. Included are several useful muster rolls and lists show when and where the various volunteer units were formed. (The writer of this review had two ancestors at San Jacinto.) An added bonus are some outstanding paintings by Texas artist Charles Shaw.If you are studying the Texas Revolution in general or San Jacinto in particular, BUY THIS BOOK.



4. This book would not be the first to read on the subject of the 1835-1836 independence movement. 'Texian Iliad' is a good introduction. 'Eighteen Minutes' contains more detail than some readers would want in the names of persons, army organization, and so forth. The details provide what is needed by those wanting to investigate further, but little help is provided those readers lacking a understanding of the conditions of the time and place.



5. A great overview of the Texas Revolution, troops movements and motivations. The often told story of the climatic battle of San Jacinto [make that "San Haceento" not "San Yacinto"] is riveting. The small band of distraught and angry Texas survivors refuses to retreat further. Houston is forced to make the best of a bad situation and is forced to fight.
   
   Santa Ana was never worried. He'd whipped the Texans at Alamo. He'd butchered them at Goliad--and--the remaining Texans were running like scalded cats. Only worried that the Texas rebels might escape his vengeful hand, he splits his force into a three-prong dragnet. The morning the Texas forces show up, finds Santa Ana and his small army of regulares backed against the Buffalo Bayou.
   
   The General is so unconcerned, some recollections have it, that he was entertaining himself with a mulatto girl he'd picked up at one of the local plantations. This is the famous "Yellow Rose" of Texas song and legend. She gave her all for Texas and Santa Ana was caught with his pants down.
   
   The enraged Texans break the Mexican line screaming, "Remember Goliad! Remember the Alamo!" They remembered in blood. Pleading Mexican soldiers are backed into the bayou where they are shot, clubbed and knifed. Hatred between Texas and Mexico--hatred warmed at Alamo and heated at Goliad--came to a fatal boil at San Jacinto.
   
   The great Generalissimo-Presidente de Mexico, Antonio Lopez de Santa, when offered the choice between hanging from an oak tree and signing away Texas, chose the latter or, as Col. Enrique de la Pena said, "Travis was a land-thief and criminal but he gave his life for his country. Santa Ana, when given the opportunity of dying like a Mexican hero, decided to save his own cowardly neck."
   
   Ron Braithwaite author of novels--"Skull Rack" and "Hummingbid God"--on the Conquest of Mexico