Excellent history of the end of the American Revolutionary War. Nathaniel Philbrick does his usual outstanding work, in this case telling the story of how the British defeat at Yorktown came together. I have also read Nelson's book, George Washington's Greatest Gamble, which is an excellent page-turner about Yorktown, but Philbrick is a real historian, and he points out many important factors that Nelson neglects. First, like Nelson, Philbrick makes clear that Yorktown was decided by the naval Battle of the Chesapeake, not by the armies on land; the siege of Yorktown by the American and French Armies of course brought the battle to a close, but it was the French Navy's control of the entrance to Chesapeake Bay that made that siege possible. Secondly, Philbrick points out how very unlikely the outcome at Yorktown was; so many pieces had to fall into place to get to the capitulation of Cornwallis, it is a minor miracle that it did happen. The victory required the following: - British General Clinton's lethargy in not attacking Washington when he passed by New York in route to Yorktown, or supporting Cornwallis in any meaningful way. - British Admiral Graves lack of aggressiveness, verging on incompetence, in the encounter with the French Fleet, which allowed Comte De Grasse to survive making a serious tactical error by separating the van (lead ships) from the rear in coming out of the Chesapeake to meet Graves. Indeed, leaving Chesapeake Bay at all was something which, frankly, there was no real need for De Grasse to have done, but De Grasse was by all accounts aggressive to a fault. - The decision by De Grasse to bring every available ship of the line with him to Virginia, leaving Haiti largely unprotected. It was a dangerous, but calculated risk which meant that the French Fleet under De Grasse was slightly larger than the British one under Graves. - The perfect timing of the arrival of De Grasse at the mouth of the Chesapeake, coinciding almost exactly with the arrival of the armies. - The presence of Admiral de Bougainville as a commander serving under De Grasse. It was Bougainville's expert actions which saved the van of the French fleet on the first day, and it was likely de Bouganville who convinced De Grasse to slip away from the British at night and return to the Chesapeake, rather than continue a pointless battle. - The energetic and completely unexpected intervention of the Spanish administrator in Havana, Francisco Saavedra, who raised enough money to finance De Grasse' expedition to Virginia and to pay Washington's soldiers, who were on the verge of deserting because of non-payment by the Continental Congress. Without Saavedra's funds, De Grasse could not have gone forward. - And finally, Cornwallis' foolish decision to encamp on a peninsula between two rivers at Yorktown, providing Washington and Rochambeau the opportunity to seal off his escape route via land. Third, Philbrick emphasizes how desperate the Americans were by 1781. If Yorktown had been an American defeat, or if Cornwallis had been able to take his army intact to New York or Charleston, it is quite possible, even likely that the American Revolution would have failed. Also, the defeat at Yorktown was, for the British people, very much like Tet was for Americans during Vietnam. After five years of war in America, the British had simply had enough and wanted out. This book, like so many others, showcases the growth of Washington as a leader and his amazing capacity for work, combined with almost unbelievable self-control which was the key to his magnetic leadership. Also, as his deft actions in quashing the "Newburgh conspiracy" illustrate, he had become quite tactically skilled as a politician by the end of the war. Philbrick spends time discussing the economic factors at play, and he deals with slavery in a straightforward way. The French, English, Dutch, and Spanish were fighting over Caribbean islands because they produced sugar, and sugar was the heroin of the 1700's. Slaves died at a truly astonishing rate working the fields in Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico and other islands, and the Americans, including Washington, were insistent about recovering "lost property" confiscated by the British, i.e., slaves who were working for the British Army with a promise of freedom. In the end, Cornwallis reneged on his promises to the Blacks in his camp, and only British General Carleton upheld the promises made, by evacuating freed slaves to Canada from New York. Washington, at the end of his life finally saw the danger that slavery posed to the country, and freed his own slaves in his will, but this does not excuse his earlier actions. Highly recommended.

I’m gonna be completely honest. I only picked this one up because it was a book of the month pick. If it wouldn’t have been for that, I truly don’t think I would have ever picked it up since it is way out of genre for me and is nonfiction. I am glad I read it because it was good, but I felt like some parts dragged while others moved faster. This was a good look into the history of Yorktown and everything that happened, but this was mostly about George Washington. The author doesn’t give you this fairytale type story through this book, but more goes straight into who George was and his personality. You start out with George possibly having a career in the British navy up until his mother had arrived and pulled him off the boat preventing him from going out to sea. George became a surveyor and then you move quickly into his role in the Indian and French War. Soon there after you are thrust into the revolutionary war where you see French and Spanish contributions. There are a few things in the book that make it feel like George just got lucky in his battles and how he went about his decisions and others showed how much the French had helped him throughout the war to get the independence we now know and enjoy every day. One war that stuck out to me throughout the book was the battle of the Chesapeake in which the French fought the British. A Spaniard by the name of Francisco Saavedra de Sangronis who persuaded a Cuban businessman to get money to help the French Fleet. This contribution played a very important role in the battle of Chesapeake. I will give notice that this book came out and spoke about how George felt about slavery. There a few pages of how his slaves escaped and he just sorta gave a shrug like he didn’t care, but at the end of his life he owned up to over 100 slaves. He (according to this book) was the only founding father to release his slaves after his death and give them their freedom. Overall this was an enjoyable read that filled in gaps of what you may have learned in your history class throughout high school. The epilogue I will say is a good ending because you see so many people and their “end” years and thoughts. You also see George through a semi different light. You see him more of just a man instead of a presidential figure and founding father. 3.5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Courtney,