Band of Giants brings to life the founders who fought for our independence. Jefferson, Adams, and Franklin are known to all; men like Morgan, Greene, and Wayne are less familiar. Yet the dreams of the politicians and theorists only became real because fighting men were willing to take on the grim, risky, brutal work of war. We know Fort Knox, but what about Henry Knox, the burly Boston bookseller who took over the American artillery at the age of 25? Eighteen counties in the United States commemorate Richard Montgomery, but do we know that this revered martyr launched a full-scale invasion of Canada? The soldiers of the Revolution were a diverse lot: merchants and mechanics, farmers and fishermen, paragons and drunkards. Most were ardent amateurs. Even George Washington, assigned to take over the army around Boston in 1775, consulted books on military tactics. Band of Giants vividly captures the fraught condition of the war - the bitterly divided populace, the lack of supplies, the repeated setbacks on the battlefield, and the appalling physical hardships.
That these inexperienced warriors could take on and defeat the superpower of the day was one of the remarkable feats in world history.
- ISBN10 1137278773
- ISBN13 9781137278777
- Publish Date 1 October 2014 (first published 9 September 2014)
- Publish Status Active
- Out of Print 2 July 2021
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint Palgrave Macmillan
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 288
- Language English