The Road to Valley Forge: How Washington Built the Army That Won the Revolution

In examining the renowned accomplishments of our first President, as well as the less dramatic, day-to-day aspects of his life, this engaging volume offers a learned and well-balanced portrait of George Washington as a general, politician, citizen, husband and thinker that ultimately supports Thomas Jefferson's assessment: ""He was, indeed, in every sense of the words, a wise, a good, and a great man."" Buchanan traces the development of the Revolutionary Army from the disastrous New York campaigns of 1776 to its confident emergence from Valley Forge in 1778, evaluating the events of this critical two-year period from a number of perspectives. At every step of the way, Buchanan analyzes troop movements and battlefield operations in detail, presents ample and well-chosen citations from the writings of major and minor players in the Revolutionary War, evaluates received scholarly wisdom on the interpretation of events and tests time-worn cultural myths against the historical record. Although the book clearly identifies itself with academic studies of the Revolutionary War era and Buchanan possesses an obviously deep knowledge of the period and familiarity with the important scholarship on it, he never lets the reader forget the gripping story that is at the heart of all this history. The fearful suspense of battles, the hot blood of interpersonal rivalries and the nobility of revolutionary hopes are all here and make for engaging reading, even if the more academic portions of the book may leave the reader cold.