Customer Reviews
Insightful - By: Mr. D. W. Griffiths, 03 Aug 2008 
The author has a depth of knowledge of events which are enlightening & entertaining. Much effort appears to have gone into unearthing contemporary accounts giving a refreshing & unbiased view of events with a ring of truth about them unlike the standard texts which can be misleading generalisations. Well worth the money, not only for a gripping read as well as an historical record .
A message for all aspiring officers... - By: Chinese Gordon, 08 Jul 2008 I'm not sure whether Urban truly intended to write a narrative history that not only sets right many of the injustices of much of the scholarship on this era, as well as comment on the current operationsin Afghanistan.
Whatever his intent, this book is brilliant,in many ways surpassing 'Rifles'. The characters are brought to lifein vivid colours, their flaws & their strengths, the arrogance of certain 'Minden men', the self-righteousness on both sides, & the sheer hypocrisy of the ideologues. This is not a book for those 'Patriot' lovers; this is a very real history. The maps are first class, & Urban, as we have come to expect, cuts through the fog of war to deliver stunning detail on everything from the tactical, strategic & operational levels of war.
Any young officer, or aspiring officer, should take the lessons so clearly portrayedin it; learning organisations defeat insurgencies, as we so nearly didin the 13 Colonies. For those notin the military, take heed anyway; read this as a history of the American war, & apply much of the logic to Iraq & Afghanistan, & that is what we are up against. The lessons are clear: Doctrine, tactics, strategy, all have to work together.
An Engaging Picture of a Regiment at War - By: Jon Latimer, 22 Dec 2007 Mark Urban has sought to recreate his earlier success with 'Rifles' by following a single regiment through a war. In choosing the 23rd Regiment (Royal Welch Fusiliers), he has plumped on a unit that fought throughout the American War of Independence from Bunker Hill to Yorktown, & can therefore act as illustrative of the war as a whole. Unlike the 95th Rifles, however, the 23rd were a 'line' regiment with none of the glamour of 'special' troops, although much of the action surrounds their detached light company. And given the very fluid organization of the army it is easy to see problems trying to carry out a single regiment narrative thread. As his Royal Welch witnesses come & go, he has had to use eyewitnesses wherever he could get them; not all are Royal Welchmen, nor are they necessarily eyewitnesses to the actual events he is discussing.
Mr Urban's lack of military background & wider understanding is sometimes apparent. As Donald Graves has noted, his belief that Revolutionary War tactics were importantin Europe is dubious, & he is unfairly harsh on David Dundas. The essential need to train the army on a common doctrine was not possible until the Duke of York became Commander-in-Chief, with the full weight of Royal authority behind him. If the correct solution was a fusion of the `German' & `American' schools, that was never possible given the stresses of service until Sir Ralph Abercromby got nearly two months to properly train his armyin 1800-1 before Egypt. He was the first British commander to have that opportunity after the reserve of trained troops was dissipatedin the West Indiesin 1793-5.
Due to these reservations I was only going to give the book four stars, but as a former Royal Welchman myself I thought, 'How can I!' Becausein all honesty, Mr Urban has written a very engaging book about the British armyin the Revolutionary War, when there are not many others (Hugh Bicheno & Christopher Hibbert come to mind) to choose from. He has also done much to dissipate the many myths beloved by American authors, particularly concerning their own tactical effectiveness. This is the book's greatest strength; a unit level account of a forgotten periodin the army's history when they were fighting a bad warin a bad place at a bad time, trying to carry on as professionally as possible.
Thorough work on a complex theme - By: N. H. Hyde, 22 Oct 2007 Centred on the elite 23rd (Royal Welch) Fuziliers [sic] during the American War of Independence, this book also gives an excellent account of many of the other units involved, since the light & grenadier companies of regiments were often hived off & brigaded with those of other units.
As we have come to expect from Urban, the battle accounts are both accurate & stirring, but I particulary like the way he draws on personal accounts of the war from both men & officers of both sides, many of them never published before, making it a highly engaging read. I learned a great deal about commanders such as Howe & Cornwallis, Balfour & Calvert, & the role they played not onlyin the fortunes of the 23rd Foot, but alsoin the political & military heirarchy of the time.
Readers new to the period may be surprised to learn that although the war was lost, the British & their allies suffered few actual defeatsin the field; on the contrary, it was the remarkable ability of the Americans to recover from defeat after defeat that ultimately brought them victory.
The AWI has always aroused passions on both sides of the Atlantic, & whilst he concentrates on the fighting & campaigning of this conflict, Urban does not shy away from examining the tragic atrocities committed by both sides that served to polarise opinion during the war. This is a sober & refreshing antidote to some of the one-sided episodesin movies such as Mel Gibson's "The Patriot".
Overall, a thorough & humane examination of Great Britain's first major humiliation on the world stage, & the effects it had on the army the British are still justifiably proud of today. Highly recommended.
