1 comments about French Revolutionary Infantryman 1791-1802 (Warrior).

1. This title is intended as a prequel to French Napoleonic Infantryman 1803-1815, and like it is well-written by Terry Crowdy and finely illustrated by the experienced Osprey artist Christa Hook. It looks at the arms, recruitment, training, and experiences of revolutionary volunteers in the French Army between the storming of Bastille (1789) and Napoleon's election as Consul for Life in 1802.
   
   The plates, plate commentary, and main text all examine the gear and tactical roles of the major infantry troop types of the time, including the light infantry chasseurs, specialized skirmishers who operated in pairs. The plates show a French stanard-bearer, recruitment, departure on campaign, line infantry firing, an infantry column deploying, a battle against Austrian skirmishers in 1792, the army crossing the Alps during the Italian campaign, and a light infantryman.
   
   The text is very useful. Crowdy lets the Revolutionary soldier himself do much of writing for him; much of the text is taken from the accounts given by various young soldiers and military men. He examines the recruitment, schooling in military life, training, preparations for battle, battles, sieges, women, punishments, and daily life of the infantrymen. The book is divided into many small, highly readable sections with specific topics.
   
   Overall, this book is a useful look into the life of the French soldiers of the early stages of the Napoleonic Wars, and their experiences of battle and military life.

1 comments about The French Revolutionary Wars (Essential Histories).

1. I was pleasantly surprised by this volume in Osprey's Essential Histories series. In a scant one hundred pages the author does an excellent job of capturing the essential facts relating to these conflicts sprinkled with useful maps and chronologies as well as some superb representational pieces of period art. I enjoyed the two interesting sidebars, one on a British naval officer and another on Nelson's ladylove, Emma Hamilton. The short bibliography lists two of my favorites, Paddy Griffith's ART of WAR of REVOLUTIONARY FRANCE and T.C.W.Blanning's THE FRENCH REVOLUTIONARY WARS. Fremont-Barnes has done a very good job on supplying the interested reader an introduction to an extremely colorful and fascinating period.

4 comments about The French Revolution.

1. Ideal for those starting out on their study of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Era (as one would expect from a university history text), Owen Connelly's modest volume has much to recommend it: fresh, readable style; decent maps, a comprehensive bibliography (pointing the way for future purchases!) and quite a few interesting little kernels that one seldom comes across. I particularly enjoyed his insights into the siblings of Napoleon; Jerome's sponsorship of Gauss, Louis' campaign for breast-feeding, Joseph's conversion of El Prado into an art museum. I heartily recommend this book as an excellent staging ground for future operations into the hinterlands of Napoleonic literature. I also recommend Connelly's BLUNDERING TO GLORY as a vey good next step on your journey.



2. I completely agree with the previous review in every respect except I feel the book deserves more stars, given the "rating inflation" prevalent with so many of the titles reviewed. I wouldn't want anyone to be put off getting this book. Connelly has squeezed an incredible amount of information into a small amount of space. As usual, he is clear and entertaining. People interested in the period should check out his other titles.



3. I had the pleasure of having Professor Conelly this past summer for a class on the French Revolution and Napoleon at the University of South Carolina. This book was the only text for the class. Reading a book is one thing, but hearing it straight from the horse's mouth is another entirely.
   
   I didn't realize just how well known and respected he was until I saw him interviewed on a NOVA special on Napoleon. Trust me, this guy knows what he's talking about, and he writes a simple, concise, easy-to-read explanation of France from 1789 - 1815.



4. Shipping time was good, I actually received the book a little before I expected it. The condition of the book was excellent, as promised.

5 comments about Look to the Hills: The Diary of Lozette Moreau, a French Slave Girl, New York Colony 1763 (Dear America Series).

1. After starting high school, I started taking French as a foreign language so I was really looking forward to reading this book and learning more about the French culture. The book didn't disappoint me. 12-year-old Lorzette Moreau "Zettie" is a companion, a better world for a slave in the upper class French society. Her mistress, Marie Moreau "Rae" is set to be married to a man she does not love so that Maries brother Pierre can pay off his debts. Zettie is also set to be sold off. When Zettie begins the diary she is locked in a room waiting for the day she will be sold and never see her mistress again. Little does she know that Rae has a plan for escape. After a daring escape, Zettie and Rae, with the help of friends, find themselves at the Ortega's house, Rae's godparents. There, they learn that Jacques, Rae's older brother, presumed dead from the war between France and England, may be alive and well as a captive in the Colonies, America. So, soon Zettie finds herself setting foot in a new land. However, Zettie finds that the way Americans treat slaves are no differnt than in France. Even though Rae is very nice to her, Zettie still isn't Rae's equal. Zettie yearns for freedom and she soon begins to learn that she might be able to use her skills to do just that. Will Zettie be able to look to the other side of the hills, freedom?
   
   I definitely enjoyed this book. It had a new perspective on the slave, one that was refreshing and different. I recommend all readers of Dear America to read this book.



2. I have read the book Look to the Hills, the diary of a French slave girl. My recommendation for this book would be, to encourage people to read it. It is about a young lady named Lozette Moreau (Zettie for short). She is a slave to a young French lady named Marie-Louise Boyer (Ree for short). Ree's father purchased Zettie as a young girl to be a companion to Ree. At least that's what everybody tells Zettie, but she knows she is really just her slave. She goes wherever Ree goes, and does what ever Ree does. This book is mostly about the life of Zettie.
   
   The year is 1763. The war between the French and the British is going on. Ree's bother is battling the British in America, to gain more land for the French. Ree's other brother could not fight in the war because he had and injured knee. Unfortunately Ree's brother had previously gambled money, and had lost his fathers whole fortune. This book tells a lot of historical facts. One example would be the fact that the French are fighting the British and many, many soldiers are getting killed. Zettie falls in love with one of Ree's friends that is very kind to her and is a true gentleman, Saint George. When Ree's brother arranges a marriage for Ree to get married to Jean-Paul. Ree and Zettie both go on a carriage to the French suburbs where he lives. But they are robbed secretly by Saint George so that Ree would not have to marry Jean-Paul. Ree decides to go and find her brother, which is in the war since her father has already died. Saint George helps them get to Spain to get closer to America to find her brother.They stay in an old friends house. But they do not treat Zettie very well. This book really showed me the way that a black woman really suffered in that time even if she did have an amazing owner that was kind to her.
   
   so in other words I really recommend that you read this book. It actually inspired me to be more grateful and thankful that I live in this time period. It showed me that it was really tough back then and even if there were some nice masters, there were still some really tough ones too. For example when Zettie and Ree went to Spain, they lived in a house with an old friend of Ree. The woman who lived in there had absolutely no respect for Zettie and treated her like an animal. I hope that you read this book because it was wonderful to read, and I really enjoyed learning about the life of a French slave girl.



3. "Look To The Hills, The Diary Of Lozette Moreau, A French Slave Girl" was a "Dear America" book that interested me greatly. I thought it'd be interesting to read about another form of slavery: companions. I admit to not knowing much about this, and I thought what better way to be introduced than through the beloved "Dear America" series? I must say that I was disappointed. I think that author Patricia C. McKissack is not my type of author, and I find her plots rather boring. I didn't warm up to any of the characters, and I felt that something was missing - mainly action. For the historical point of view, I enjoyed it, but for the entertaining point of view, I didn't. I "sorta" recommend.



4. Zettie is a slave to Marie-Louise's father but when he dies she worries about what will happen to her. Marie-Louise convinces her fiancee to buy Zettie. They then escape to Spain and then to America in search of Marie-Louise's other brother Jacques who was thought to be dead but may in fact be alive. For Zettie, she keeps hoping Marie-Louise or Jacques will be able to free her. I like that she does eventually become freed. I enjoyed reading all about Colonial America, the forts, French and Indian wars and a part of American history I don't hear about. I liked Zettie a lot. She was a smart, clever girl who was a fabelous duelist.



5. This is a very good book. It should be for people 9-13.This book was good because it felt that you were in the book and feeling the anger and sadness and happiness. This book was the first book I liked in the series. You should get this book right away.

5 comments about Sister Revolutions: French Lightning, American Light.

1. Author Dunn explores the French and American Revolutions of the late 18th century. She does an excellent job of describing the differences between the two political systems, one based on concensus but with a loyal opposition (American) and one based on total unity (French). The most interesting idea developed is that the French Revolution served as a harbinger of the Russian Revolution. The will of the people would be served by an elite few who remained convinced of their leadership even when deserted by the people they served. The French leaders are portrayed as idealist who tried to create an impossible system while the American leaders were politicians who knew that to create a workable system, some ideas had to be sacrificed.

   I would strongly recommend this book to any reader with an interest in history. Well written and well researched, the author ends the book with two chapters about the revolutions in Russia and Vietnam and how these revolutions borrowed ideas from the French and American revolutions.




2. I am surprised that there aren't more books out there tying together the American and French Revolutions. I read this book as part of the Brother's Book Club (BBC) and thoroughly enjoyed the e-mail discussions it generated. If you are looking for a chronological historical breakdown of the two revolutions, this would not be the book to get. If, however, an analytical breakdown of the causes that generated and fueled the two revolutions, the thought that kept them aloft, the intellectual connection and differences between the revolutions, and lastly the impact that they had upon the rest of the world; all sound compelling to you, then by all means go buy this book.

   One detractor is Dunn's oversimplification in her critical look at everything involving the French Revolution and high praise for all things American Revolution. She follows this code, almost without exception. A more objective analysis would have been more meaningful and valid. The strength of the book is Dunn's revelation of the power of ideas. She makes it inducingly clear that the historically decisive actions of the world were driven by the power of ideas.

   Perhaps the most compelling chapters come at the end, as Dunn stretches intellectually by portraying the two revolutions as models and exploring the effect they have had on subsequent revolutions around the globe. The biggest surprise is that after Dunn praises the American model, she concludes by finding America's current system of government inefficient and suggests that the British Parliamentary model is the best fitting for modern day democracies. How we come full circle.

   Good book for those interested in the thought process behind the American and French revolution, but not so much for a historical breakdown of the two. Through exploring the power of ideas, Dunn comes up with some powerful ideas of her own.




3. It's not possible to seriously study the American Revolution without having a knowledge of the French Revolution, as well. Both having been in the name of "the people", why did one work so well, giving us the world's oldest operating constitution, while the other descended into a chaotic, paranoid killing spree?

   The short answer is that the French committed the classical blunder of "people's movements" : stirring unbridled emotion in with the idea that the people reign supreme, this is the people's government, so question it and you're against the people.....now prepare to have your height reduced by a foot or so. As an example, the Declaration of the Rights of Man states such laughably contradictory statements of "rights" that it's hard to imagine anyone ever thought it could work in the first place: from Article 4 "Liberty consists in the freedom to do everything which injures no one else;" I guess it would be insulting you to draw the line from freedom to tyranny when you're using statements that fatuous as your guiding light. It's kind of like describing your political ideology as "being for good things and against bad things". That's a bit open-ended, don't you think?

   History shows hoards of people running like lemmings into the arms of movements that do this again and again at the urging of intellectuals who, in the attempt to reconcile theory with practical solutions, fail miserably and leave an atrocious body-count in their wake. By now, you'd think this dismal little scenario, playing itself like an endless loop of a bad horror film, would recede into history but that just doesn't seem to be the case. After being beaten down by some megalomaniacal ruler, the "people" tend to make the classical over-step of tearing everything to ground level in an effort to scrub themselves clean of the past. What's usually left is a barren wasteland that's as bad or worse than the original offense.

   To put it very briefly, the American Revolution differed in that it didn't discard every last remnant of Britain, keeping the best while discarding the worst.

   This is an excellent effort, although I think it steps beyond its limits in the final chapters as the author understandably attempts to integrate the lessons from both revolutions to the present. This seems to brief to be of much value and probably should have been the subject of another book.




4. The author completely disregards many important factors that contributed to the divergent paths of the French Revolution and the American Revolution. If you have read J.M. Thompson's The French Revolution, you know that France had fundamental differences from America in the latter half of the 18th Century. Also, Dunn ignores the fact that the leaders of the American Revolution merely glossed over one very crucial issue when defining the new nation - Slavery. This important issue led to a bloody Civil War less than a century later!



5. INCREDIBLE BOOK!! I strongly recommend it for students of comparative history. The US War of Independence earned freedom fot the 13 colonies and created a new nation; the French Revolution descended into a reign of terror. WHY??? Read the book, put it aside, and read it again. What an insight AND inside view of the events!!!! WHO said women could not write military history? or analyze its scientific angle?? Not me!! Bravo, Ms. Dunn.

1 comments about Revolutionary rumblings (Chester the Crab's comics with content series) (Chester the Crab's comics with content series).

1. I have used Chester successfully in my 4th grade classroom for years, and he never fails to capture the attention of my students, even my reluctant ones! I highly recommend Chester and all his adventures to history lovers of all ages. Boyd has an uncanny ability to uniquely illustrate historical issues using Chester and his friends which is fun and entertaining to read.

No comments about Struggle for a Continent: The French and Indian Wars: 1689-1763 (The American Story).

5 comments about Calico Captive.

1. This Historical Fiction Novel is great!! It helped me understand more about the time era. After the first few pages, I got really into the book. It made me feel as if I really were the main character, and going through her struggles. This book expresses the characters really well, and is fun to read!!



2. Having read in various books of the French and Indian war of Susanah Johnson's captivity and ordeal, I came across this fictionalized account set through the eyes of her sister, Miriam. Being curious, I purchased it.
   
   This is the life developing story of a teenage girl and in that it is a good story. Taking the character from her abduction by savages near fort Number Four (whose attrocities are well documented) to her captivity (something not so well documented)in the native settlement of St. Franceis to her being deliverered to Montreal (she had been sold though no details are shown) in New France to her eventual repatriation.
   
   Based on a true story narrated by the heroine's sister Susanna Johnson in 1807, and containing numerous historical innacuracies and clearly some early Politically correct biases of the auttor,this will be interesting reading to a teenager as well as an adult. Though due to lack of availablility, I do not fault the author's numerous historical and cultural inaccuracies in her story, I must confess I do not care for the author portraying the character as narrow minded in comparison to the Abanakis whose label of Savages is well deserved and their attrocities are well documented or of the Catholic French who were hardly the most tolerant of people as French Huegenots in France and many English protestant captives discovered after being sold to them by the natives. Indeed though there is much reported of english captives being purchased from the natives by their French patrons not much is out on the details.
   Certainly the proto-political correctness could have been done without.
   
   Otherwise it is a good story as far as story telling goes.
   
   I feel, with proper research to correct its flaws, it would make a nice tv movie for kids.



3. Calico Captive is Elizabeth George Sprears (1908-1994) first novel. It was inspired by the diary of Susanna Willard Johnson, abducted by the Abenaki Indians in 1754 (during the French and Indian War) from her house in Fort Number 4 in Charleston, New Hampshire, published for the first time in 1796 and then 1807 (and presently available online at www.canadiana.org). Susanna Johnson was made captive with all her family, including a 14 year old sister, turned into the sixteen year old Miriam in the book, conducted to the Indian settlement of St. Francis and then sold to the French in Montreal, where she remained for three years before being set free after the payment of ransom. It took some years still before the whole family could be reunited.
   
   Captivity narratives evolved into a kind of literary genre during the early years of American literature. These diaries, mostly by women, were always written at distance from the event of the abduction and share in their originality many stereotyped situations. These memories have been identified by modern critics as vehicles for a subjective rather than objective truth, as a means of political propaganda and as a form of sensational literature such as the "slave narratives". Post-modern and cultural analysis have re-evaluated them as examples of gender and culture conflicts and pointed out the principal elements of the genre: what a proper woman should do in a desperate situation and the religious message of sticking to Faith in times of adversity. Not rarely, however, the captives depict their captors as individuals and somehow opened themselves to these foreign (Indian or French) cultures. Susanna Johnson's diary is one of those in which the captors, be they Indian or French, are shown in all their humanity and this old document, even if difficult to read, retains a charm of its own.
   
   This long introduction is to explain the importance, the originality and the enduring success of "Calico captive". This novel, more often than not classified as children or adolescent literature makes a great read also for adults. Elizabeth George Spear describing Susanna's little sister Miriam introduces into this real adventure a fictionalized and modern young girl, that with her thoughts and actions allows the reader to identify with the history, the characters and the literary genre.
   
   Miriam is sixteen, just starting to get interested in a young Harvard bound Phineas Whitney, when she is ripped away from her home. During her march through the woods, she keeps blaming her family for their capture and she thinks with longing and rage of her new blue dress. These small things seem more important than the plight the family is withstanding. But how true, that a sixteen year old girl would think of it this way! Once in the Indian settlement she tries to get along with her masters and decides to learn sewing and embroidery and tries to make the best of her situation. But when she is brought to Montreal, the contact with the long despised French, completely upsets her beliefs and standards. The people she meets are sincere and sympathetic, all the world revolving around her is interesting and her mind opens to the acceptance of another culture (European) and another religion (Roman Catholicism). She realizes the enemy is not so different from us and she integrates so well, to be asked to be part of that world. The temptation is strong but inside her mind her steadfastness, modelled on that of her sister Susanna, consents her to take the right decision.
   
   One of the most interesting aspects of Miriam's outlook is the acceptance of what she has to learn from her captors: the embroidery from the Indians, the fashion and gaiety from the French, and at the same time the understanding of the relations of the other members of her family (Sylvanus the little boy that loves to run wild with the Indians, the little Susanna that loves to be pampered by her adoptive French aunts, her older sister Susanna that has so many prejudices against the French).
   
   A great deal of historical research is evident in the book's preparation and the Authors descriptive capacities consent a complete identification with the characters and the situations. Old Montreal is there before our eyes, as are the dresses of the Frenchwomen and the sparkling ballrooms, but we can also feel the cold, the hunger and the discomfort of life among the woods.
   
   This novel has a double value. In the first place it is a beautiful story to read and enjoy and at the same time an occasion for learning what life was like during the French and Indian War, but in the second place it is a modern version of captivity narrative that allows the reader to appreciate this genre of literature so popular many years ago.
   
   A small personal P.S.: I read this book borrowing it from the Library when I was nine years old (1966) and I enjoyed very much. After so many years, I found it a bookshop in Boston this summer and I bought it with enormous joy. I took it back to Italy, where I now live, and read it with all the enthusiasm of when I was nine. Naturally, I now understand more things than I did then and the Net helps us out in gaining more information on the topic, but the joy of reading the book I assure you was just the same! [...]



4. This is a beautiful story of a girl who was a captive to both the Indians and the French. Some parts of this book I did not like because of the way they called Indians "Redskins", although they might have called them that. After I got into it, it was a lot more interesting. The writing style was good, because it had different points of view, and it is historically accurate. I couldn't put it down. The book is an epic tale of a young girl who learns to adapt to her surroundings. I loved this book from beginning to end. I enjoyed reading it very much.



5. It is very interesting to look at Miriam's character in this story. It is a little hard to sympathize with her at the beginning, because she is so self centered. She doesn't seem to care for much past herself. But that changes as the story progresses, and she becomes caring and giving to others. As she does, she begins to find an inner peace that had eluded her for most of the story.
   I also like how everything in this story is so accurately portrayed. I have read how some readers have been shocked how Indians are referred to as "savages," and "redskins." The author was merely trying to portray how many of the settlers saw them. Besides, in the story, Miriam is corrected by one of the characters, who tries to show her the Indians in a different light. I also like how the French are shown, a little frivolous, with a great love for the material things, but kindhearted as well (most of them).
   All in all, this book is quite good, with many twists and turns, though I found it a tiny bit slow at times.

5 comments about The Matchlock Gun.

1. "The Matchlock Gun," by Walter D. Edmonds, features illustrations by Paul Lantz. The copyright page notes that this book was originally published in 1941. The entire book is about 80 pages long; the main text is 62 pages long and is divided into ten chapters. In his foreword Edmonds establishes the setting of the book: the French and Indian War in colonial America. The tale looks at the war's impact on the Van Alstyne family: husband Teunis, wife Gertrude, 10-year old son Edward, and 6-year old daughter Trudy. Teunis, "a true Dutchman," is a militia captain. The tale's first chapter establishes Edward's fascination with the gun of the title, a massive Spanish weapon that hangs over the mantel.
   
   Edmonds has crafted a simple but suspenseful tale of life in what one character calls "the wild America" during wartime. He appeals to the senses with vivid details such as the smell from butter churning. The book also gives a glimpse into his characters' domestic and social lives. Despite its short length, this is a rich text that touches on such themes as advancing weapons technology, the Dutch cultural presence in colonial America, and--most importantly--the impact of war upon families. Edward is an appealing young hero. A short author bio at the end of the book notes that Edmonds was born in upper New York State and that in 1942 this book received the Newbery Medal.



2. Edward had dreams of shooting the matchlock gun, which hung up on mantle in his home, until one day the Indians came and were going to invade his home. The book The Matchlock Gun is an entertaining, adventurous book for older children. This chapter book contains some historical events that happened in the 1700's. During this time the French and the Indians were constant threats to the British. Edward and his family were British. Edward's father was called off the battle and left Edward in charge of the house and the family. Edward's father showed his how to use the matchlock gun in case of an emergency. One evening the Indians and were about to attack his home when he fired the gun killing two of the Indians.
   This book takes place in the 1750's in the state of New York. During this time there was a lot of conflict between the French, Indian, and British. The main characters in the story are Edward, Trudy, who is Edward's little sister, and Gertrude, the mother. Edward is the hero of the story because he ends up saving his family from the Indians. All of the illustrations in the book are in black and white. They give the reader a general idea of the style, clothing, and transportation during this time.
   The book The Matchlock Gun is full of suspense and adventures to keep the reader enticed. Once Edward learns how to use if matchlock gun, is he going to need to use it in the future to protect his family while his father is away?



3. Can someone explain to me how a book can be full of stereotypes and at the same time have interesting characters (review by E R Bird)? I am of native American descent (Cherokee), and my paternal ancestors survived the Trail of Tears, and yet I am in no way offended by authors describing the real horrors of warfare during the French and Indian Wars - or of other such wars, like King Philip's War (1675-76). Innocents were killed by both sides in the numerous wars between Europeans and American Indians. In the case of the French and Indian Wars, the French sent their Indian allies south from Canada to raid the British frontier. Ironically, during the War of Independence, many attacks by Indians were instigated by the British in Canada against the American insurgents (see Edmonds' "Drums Along the Mohawk").
   
   Andrew Jackson is regarded as a great president, yet he ignored the decision of the Supreme Court and sent American troops to eject the peaceful Cherokees and Creeks from South Carolina and Georgia and drive them to Oklahoma during the winter. This was a truly disgraceful incident in American history. I think this episode shouldn't be glossed over any more than the killing of noncombatants by American Indians in various wars.
   
   The truth should be told, however uncomfortable it might be.
   
   David Lee-Smith



4. The Matchlock Gun, by Walter D. Edmonds,was an exciting book. There was a gun in their family, from Spain, that was longer than a man, heavy, and fired like a canon. Edward, the main character, was fascinated with the gun and felt lucky to have it in their family.
   
   When his father is gone with the militia, Edward is responsible for the family as the head of the house, but he is only 10! Edward and his mother were scared because they thought Indians might attack, sneaking through the militia.
   
   I was scared reading the ending, but when it was over I wished there was more.
   
   This was a good book for 8 year olds or older, because of some violent things. I give it 4 out of 5 stars.



5. As a Native American man enrolled in the Santee Sioux Tribe of Nebraska, I feel obliged to respond to various reviews regarding this book. First of all, for the most part, I enjoyed this book. It is a fine story intended primarily for American children. However, it is simply that: a child's story. It is indeed unfortunate that there is such a short description of "the Indians;" I suspect that this is only because of the author's purpose of writing an exciting story set in the early years of the American experiment. While the story is lacking in its description of the Native American characters, this story does present the opportunity to begin a conversation about Native Americans and their role within American history, stereotypes of Native Americans and the ongoing need to address ongoing racism that continues from the legacy of the fearful perspective of such characters as the young and noble Edward.
   
   I have found the reviews of some readers disheartening. To deny the atrocities against Native Americans by the US government and other institutions (e.g., the Church, school system, etc.) only continues to hurt Native Americans who must live with the ongoing results of those atrocities in the shadow of a society which has unfairly benefitted from the oppression of a group of peoples. Furthermore, such denial of privilege is detrimental to American society and the freedom of all Americans.

5 comments about The Great Upheaval: America and the Birth of the Modern World, 1788-1800.

1. This is one of the best books I have ever read. Although it is technically a history book, the author's creative writing style makes it read more like a mystery or drama. You won't be able to put it down once you start.



2. This was a solid book with a very interesting thesis. It suffered from repetition and could have used a good editor. Some of the writing got lost in the weeds of details and tangential topics. However, the central thesis about the linkages of world leaders in the late 18th century and the examples and case studies provided to support that assertion were quite interesting and worth the read.



3. Historian Jay Winik examines one of the tumultuous periods in western civilization. THE GREAT UPHEAVAL: AMERICA AND THE BIRTH OF THE MODERN WORLD, 1788-1800 is an intriguing historical narrative that almost reads like an epic novel with a cast of characters in world history. Despite what the title says, the United States is one of the focal points in the book, but is juxtaposed with established nations of the late eighteenth century, Russia, France, and the Ottoman Empire who were also experiencing their own major quandaries and transitions.
   
   With the inspiration from colleagues and fellow historians that took six years in the making, Winik has written an enormous book with an immense amount of graphic detail that magnifies the importance of the individuals and topics that a western civilization textbook seldom extensively covers. One of the strengths of the book is that Winik examines American history with a global perspective and with exceptional emphasis on the leaders and their distinct traits of leadership, which was influenced by the Enlightenment; readers will read the significance of philosophers, such as Voltaire, Locke, and Montesquieu during this pivotal era. While America was establishing nationhood and alliance with France, Europe slowly transitioned to modernity, but not without yet another long struggle of strife that pitted and challenged Russia and its leader, Catherine the Great, with the long standing Ottoman Empire, and France with a contending revolution against the monarchical rule of King Louis XVI. In addition, Winik recognizes those Founding Fathers who usually appeared in the shadows of George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson, and places them in the forefront of this narrative, Thomas Paine, Alexander Hamilton and Marquise de Lafayette, and how they greatly contributed to nation-building.
   
   THE GREAT UPHEAVAL is a pure example of how history connects and reconnects events of the past during respective periods. This is a highly recommended book for history aficionados or students studying history who may want to see how American history parallels with European history. One may see it is indeed a collaborative effort that crosses disciplines and geographic borders.



4. Technology (as we should know by now) is morally neutral, and can be used for good or evil. Take for example, a word processing document template, which can be used to create multiple documents that follow the same outline and format. Winik certainly saved his template of historical narrative from his earlier classic "April 1865" and reused it here, but this time the finished document, attempting more, achieves less.
   
   In the earlier book, Winik artfully used the confines of a very narrow time and place to expand on and at the same time focus broader threads of historical exposition and narrative. I rated that book as a five-star classic in my review (April 1865: The Month That Saved America).
   
   This time, Winik has chosen a much broader range of time--the 1790s--and place--Russia, France, and America. With such a wide-angle lens, Winik attempts to regain focus by devoting each chapter to a different country, resulting alternately in the loss of integration he hopes to achieve and in repetition of ideas and phrases throughout the book.
   
   Like a vacationer who attempts to capture the grandeur of a mountain range by capturing the whole range in a single snapshot, Winik is forced to pull so far back from his subject that the mountain range can be seen only in fuzzy outlines. Better, as he did in April 1865, to focus on a single peak in the great mountain range so that the detail can be traced and generalized to the whole; here, the narrative becomes too general and unfocused, and Winik is unable to tie the narrative together as he hoped.
   
   The flaw is not in the template. Winik showed, that within the right scope with the right ideas behind it, he is a writer capable of producing a classic of historical narrative on this template, and has the ability to do so again in future works. But I found some indicators that Winik overreached his model and perhaps his expertise at this stage in his still-young career as a popular historian:
   
   1. He lifted whole sentences, paragraphs, and pages from April 1865. While they may have applied to both, having read the two books back to back I felt somewhat cheated. The fault of Winik's is not a desire to defraud the user, but as we have already seen the selection of too broad of a scope too close to his original history.
   
   2. Several times in the book, Winik attempts to emphasize the depth or veracity of his narrative with phrasing like "The crux of the matter, and it was the crux" as if an inveterate liar repeating his lie more loudly he may be able to convince the reader of the validity of his points. This is not because Winik's points are false, or counterintuitive, but rather is a side effect of the fact that his narrative template applied to such a broad scope leaves him with nothing but the broadest generalities in his toolkit. So far removed from his primary (and even secondary) sources, Winik must face the skeptical glare of the reader with nothing but his generalizations, and in the isolation of this harsh glare Winik uses this turn of phrase that clanks of the ear like a twice-told lie.
   
   3. Failure to weave the threads back together and explain why it matters that Russia, France, and America went through the 1790s as they did, and how the events of the three countries intertwined. Again, the narrative is in such long focus that the fine-grained detail of the interactions can't be drawn out. Telling the account of this important decade in these three great nations in enough detail to show the interactions would entail many more pages than a popular historical narrative will support; consider, for example, "Citizen", Simon Schama's narrative of the French Revolution--referenced by Winik here--that runs 900+ pages on just one piece of Winik's narrative. A student of the French Revolution would be better served reading that source, and Winik isn't able to compellingly convince me that the reader is better served in "Upheaval."
   
   Again, Winik is not at all a bad writer; he is a writer capable of producing a classic of historical narrative as he did in "April, 1865", and has the ability to do so again in future works. "The Great Upheaval" contains many of his deft turns of phrase, pithy biographical captures of important characters, and his dramatic sense of timing and narrative angles.
   
   If you are new to the decade and the countries involved, and have limited time, Winik's book would be an acceptable starting point. Otherwise, reference the bibliographical notes for the sources Winik used, such as Schama's book on the French Revolution (See my review here: Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution).



5. I would have given this excellently written book five stars if only there would have more maps! There are none of France, so it's impossible to follow visually the armies, Louis' flight, and the many towns, cities, and areas mentioned. Ditto for Russia and it's conflicts with the Ottomans, Poland, and Finland. Very frustrating!