Rating: 
Summary: A journey through old New York
Review: The author has done considerable research and filled his book with names that are distant memories of elementary school history (even for New Yorkers). Unfortunately, he misses an A because he fails to link the significance of the events and conflicts that he cites in his book to the Articles of our Constitution that specifically prohibit them. For example: The author's first chapter addresses the seeds of discontent and discusses the friction between the Anglican church and all others. He points out how all ranking members of the royal colonial government were members of the Anglican church but doesn't mention that England required all of its peerage to be members of the Church of England. This is the origin of the "separation of church and state" issue that still bedevils American lawmakers and justices alike. In stipulating the separation of church and state, our founding fathers were simply reacting to this English practice and asserting that there would be no "official" religion of the fledgling United States to which all members must belong. Similarly, the author discusses the unrest created by quartering troops among the populous. Hence, it's prohibition. The book is a great read for those wishing to know about the power brokers in NYC leading up to, during, and following the Revolution; but the author could have better linked the events 225 years ago to the Constitution that guides our American experience today.
Rating: 
Summary: The perfect subtitle
Review: When one thinks of the Revolutionary Era in America, one might tend to think of Concord and Lexingtion, Boston, Monmouth, Philadelphia, Valley Forge, or a dozen other places before ever giving Manhattan a thought. This, as Barnet Schecter's brilliant history, "The Battle for New York: The City at the Heart of the American Revolution", is an undeserved slight to New York. As his perfect subtitle states, New York City was the pivotal center--the "heart"--of the Revolution.Too much had happened in New York to dismiss its role immediately before, during, and after the war. One example: the Battle of Golden Hill (at the present John Street) in which British troops fired upon and killed American patriots occurred more than a month before the Boston Massacre, which has been long regarded as the first skirmish between colonists and the Crown. Mr. Schecter appropriately emphasizes the Battle of Brooklyn (or the Battle of Long Island) and how Washington's strategic (and lucky) evacuation across the East River and through Manhattan turned the tide of the war: the war could've been over then and there had Washington's army been captured. There are more stories, there is more evidence of the critical role New York played during the nascent years of the United States, and, Mr. Schecter has wonderfully captured this undeniable fact. "The Battle for New York: The City at the Heart of the American Revolution" is one of those books that fulfills a large gap in our complete understanding of that war and that era in history.
For that reason, Mr. Schecter is to be thanked for his contribution.
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