Rating: 
Summary: the real first world war
Review: "first salute" is one of tuchman's best...it just seems impossible that she could offer us such intricate details and insight based on information that is over two centuries old.
the real heroes, the hidden agendas, the personal informaiton that governed governments...it is all here.
i got the feeling that i was not reading history but that tuchman was in my living room, telling me her story (notice that history is not herstory?).
i was amused by the irony in the book: americans usually view themselves as the centre of their universe and i remember that when i learned about the american revolution it was a story about young adealistic revolutionaries succeeding over old imperialistic buffoons. "first salute" puts america's view of itself into a global perspective of probaly the first world war in which america was on the winning side, quite by accident!
a must-read.
Rating:
Summary: the real first world war
Review: "first salute" is one of tuchman's best...it just seems impossible that she could offer us such intricate details and insight based on information that is over two centuries old.
the real heroes, the hidden agendas, the personal informaiton that governed governments...it is all here.
i got the feeling that i was not reading history but that tuchman was in my living room, telling me her story (notice that history is not herstory?).
i was amused by the irony in the book: americans usually view themselves as the centre of their universe and i remember that when i learned about the american revolution it was a story about young adealistic revolutionaries succeeding over old imperialistic buffoons. "first salute" puts america's view of itself into a global perspective of probaly the first world war in which america was on the winning side, quite by accident!
a must-read.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely great book about the revolutionary war.
Review: Absolutely great! A very different look at the events and
people that led our country to freedom. Very interesting
in its discussion of Dutch and French involvement in our
cause. Also mentions the first official foreign recognition
of our country's flag!!
Rating:
Summary: another excellent Tuchman book
Review: After I started reading this book, I realized how little I actually knew about the american revolution and how different it was from the history I learned in school. Tuchman has an uncanny gift for making the reader relive the history she is writing about.
Rating: 
Summary: A world wide look at the bid for independence.
Review: As with all Tuchman histories it's readable placing the struggle of the colonies in its historical world wide perspective, telling us of the history never taught with special emphasis on the French contribution. It's alerts us to how close New York came to becoming the London of the 19th century.
Rating:
Summary: Not Tuchman's best, but still an excellent book
Review: Barabra Tuchman's last book is not her best (cannot be compared to the Guns of August or The March of Folly) but it definitely has the Tuchman magic touch and unique historic sense of seeing and conveying the portrayed events in the scope of long term historical affect on mankind.
Rating:
Summary: Fills in the Details Left Out in School
Review: Barbara Tuchman's book mainly focuses on the influence of naval forces on the emergence of the U.S. during the 18th century. She connects the few events that we all know with many of the people who were involved in a way that allows the reader to understand that era in a realistic feeling way. In the process of describing day-to-day decisions, events and conditions she removes the gloss of great victories and allows us to see "behind the curtain" and view the American Revolution and many preceding events through 18th century eyes. Travel and communication were very slow, logistics that we take for granted today were very difficult to manage, living conditions were harsh, and war was more brutal than most of us understand. Military and naval tactics evolved slowly and many of the captains and admirals of the day turned out to be petty, largely uneducated and unsophisticated with the British being among the worst. Reading between the lines, there is an implication that randomness had a much larger influence on the birth of our nation than we are taught in our public schools.Ms Tuchman's style is just right for this presentation of the subject matter. It is very readable but also very detailed. I highly recommend this book for its perspectives on the Revolutionary War era, especially if it is read in concert with books such as the recent and very popular John Adams biography that provided another first person account of this period.
Rating: 
Summary: About everything BUT the American Revolution
Review: Call me a traditionalist, but I think it is reasonable to assume that a book promising to be about the American Revolution, even one claiming a "fresh approach", should have more than a passing reference to the battle for American independence. Instead, Barbare Tuchman has given us a very scholarly and well-researched discourse on the Dutch and British navies, with an occasional mention of the conflict in the colonies. Ms. Tuchman wants to demonstrate the importance of the Dutch navy, the Dutch's recognition of American vessels, and their willingness to trade with the colonies despite Britain's embargo, on the overall outcome of the war. That is all well and good, but she gets so hopelessly bogged down in detail that the average reader loses focus as she meticulously explores topics such as the history of the "ship of the line" method of naval warfare, complete with irrelevant digressions on earlier British court martials of admirals from the 1740's who deviated from the rigid rules of naval warfare. If you have a unique interest in the conflict between the British and Dutch navies, and the historical context of the American Revolution to that European conflict, than this is the book for you. Otherwise, stick with an excellent book like Robert Leckie's George Washington's War for a gripping, historical, chronological description of the American Revolution, including its major and minor players both here and in England.
Rating:
Summary: About everything BUT the American Revolution
Review: Call me a traditionalist, but I think it is reasonable to assume that a book promising to be about the American Revolution, even one claiming a "fresh approach", should have more than a passing reference to the battle for American independence. Instead, Barbare Tuchman has given us a very scholarly and well-researched discourse on the Dutch and British navies, with an occasional mention of the conflict in the colonies. Ms. Tuchman wants to demonstrate the importance of the Dutch navy, the Dutch's recognition of American vessels, and their willingness to trade with the colonies despite Britain's embargo, on the overall outcome of the war. That is all well and good, but she gets so hopelessly bogged down in detail that the average reader loses focus as she meticulously explores topics such as the history of the "ship of the line" method of naval warfare, complete with irrelevant digressions on earlier British court martials of admirals from the 1740's who deviated from the rigid rules of naval warfare. If you have a unique interest in the conflict between the British and Dutch navies, and the historical context of the American Revolution to that European conflict, than this is the book for you. Otherwise, stick with an excellent book like Robert Leckie's George Washington's War for a gripping, historical, chronological description of the American Revolution, including its major and minor players both here and in England.
Rating:
Summary: Great story.
Review: Characters of the revolution live in this book. Especially informative about some I've never heard of, like the various admirals who botched the war for the Brits. You get to admire George Washington more than ever--how did we ever produce such a man? Tuchman takes you to places you never knew were part of the story, like the various United Provinces of the Netherlands, and the crucial island of St. Eustace where much of the supplies came through. A great story.
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