|
Iron Tears: America's Battle for Freedom, Britain's Quagmire: 1775-1783 | 
 enlarge | Author: Stanley Weintraub
Publisher: Free Press
Category: Book
List Price: $28.00
Buy New: $3.50
You Save: $24.50 (88%)
New (45) Used (56) from $1.87
Avg. Customer Rating:  10 reviews
Sales Rank: 314465
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 400
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6 x 1.5
ISBN: 0743226879
Dewey Decimal Number: 973.3
EAN: 9780743226875
ASIN: 0743226879
Publication Date: January 4, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com Review
Iron Tears examines the Revolutionary War primarily from the perspective of British politicians, soldiers, citizens, and the royal court of King George III. In this enjoyable and enlightening book, American historian Stanley Weintraub looks at myopic King George and his ambition to hold the colonies at any price, discusses how antiwar opposition in Parliament gradually gained momentum, and studies the sentiments of the general population who were forced to pay heavy taxes to support the conflict, causing resentment and, in 1780, a riot. Despite such rumblings all around him, the insulated king failed to realize how much the situation in far-off America affected domestic issues in England and was shocked enough when he lost America that he considered abdicating his throne. Most British citizens did not take it nearly as hard; many, in fact, welcomed the chance to get back to business with the Americans, feeling that commerce had been interrupted long enough by an expensive and unnecessary war. Weintraub also covers the battles on the other side of the Atlantic and offers profiles of the major players, particularly George Washington, who became a folk hero in Britain, earning the admiration of even those ardently against the American cause. The consequences of Britain's hiring of thousands of foreign mercenaries, some of which ended up deserting and settling permanently in America, are also discussed, along with the issue of why loyalists in the colonies failed to join the redcoats in significant numbers. Most importantly, in detailing the strategic and tactical mistakes made by Britain, the author highlights the various circumstances that greatly favored the rebellious colonies from the beginning, including the sheer vastness of America and the maddening logistical difficulties involved in sending soldiers, provisions, and messages across the ocean. Weintraub makes a compelling case that the mighty British Empire never really had a chance. --Shawn Carkonen
Product Description
For generations, Americans have been taught to view the Revolutionary War as a heroic tale of resistance, exclusively from the perspective of the Continental army and the Founding Fathers. Now, in Iron Tears, master historian Stanley Weintraub offers the first account that examines the war from three divergent and distinct vantage points: the battlefields; the American leadership under George Washington; and -- most originally -- that of England, embroiled in controversy over the war. Colonial America was England's Vietnam.Weintraub's multifaceted analysis will forever change and expand our view of the struggle. Although Washington's army, with France's help, won the war, it is equally significant -- both then and now -- that Britain lost it. The British found themselves overwhelmed by the geographic and time constraints that prevented their military from holding on to the eighteen-hundred-mile length of the thirteen colonies, from across three thousand miles of ocean during the cumbersome era of water travel. Many in London realized that American independence was only a matter of time. Yet the British were enveloped in a fantasy world of self-delusion as the war trudged along. The unyielding George III, who ultimately threatened abdication; his lethargic prime minister, Lord North; the First Lord of the Admiralty, the corrupt Earl of Sandwich, better remembered for his paired slices of bread; and the Secretary for America, Lord George Germain, an arrogant ex-general court-martialed for cowardice in an earlier war, formed a quartet that played out of tune. As opposition to and frustration with the failing war gradually increased in parliament, in the press, and in the afflicted mercantile sector, so did pacifist sentiment for and sympathy with their American cousins. Iron Tears renders an unprecedented account of the fight for American independence through British eyes, while dramatically narrating the battles that were waged across the Atlantic from Lexington to Yorktown and beyond. As the general, whom the British snobbishly and demeaningly referred to as "Mr. Washington," rallied to keep his ragged and overmatched Continentals together and create a nation, "iron tears" fell from redcoat muskets and cannons, as well as from the demoralized eyes of the defeated British.
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 5 more reviews...
 Hard reading - poorly written October 15, 2008
I have to compare this book, "Iron Tears," to Don Cook's book "The Long Fuse: How England Lost the American Colonies 1760-1785". "The Long Fuse" is a tightly written book that reads almost like a novel - even though I knew the ending, I could hardly put the book down. I read late into the night to finish it.
Weintraub's book, "Iron Tears" is a hard read. It's full of extraneous information that really has no real relevance to the story. He does a poor job of describing the major players on the English side and their impact on the decisions regarding the war.
The only way I could recommend Weintraub's book is if you have a particular interest in the extraneous data in his book and a high tolerance for poor writing. But if you're interested in a book that draws you in - a book you can't put down - and yet a book that tells the story, get "The Long Fuse".
The British perspective on the American War December 13, 2006
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
This is a truly fascinating book that takes the American Revolution completely from the British perspective. If you are not well versed in the events of the American Revolution this will be a tough book to get through because it does not spend much time talking about what happens on the American side and you are assumed to know. If you are a true student of the American revolution however this is a must read. To understand the British thinking is somewhat shocking and to see the changes in government and how it impacted the war in America brings a new perspective to the Revolution. Very highly recommend for those who are well versed in the American Revolution.
 "Mrs. Britannia's" Colonial "Quagmire" July 26, 2006
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
In the Preface, Weintraub poses a question to which he then responds within the narrative of his brilliant book: "How did relinquishing America look from the remote European side of the Atlantic?" More specifically, his extensive research focuses on the perspectives of King George III, Lord North and his cabinet, both houses of Parliament, and admirals and generals as well as London's journalists, brokers, bankers, and traders during what became "Britain's Quagmire" (1775-1783). The American Revolutionary War was certainly not popular among a majority of those on both sides of the Atlantic. In fact, only about 40% of those in the colonies favored the war and an even lower percentage supported it in England. Meanwhile, as General Washington struggled to command the dwindling Continental army and "by strength of personality held the fractious colonies together," a peacemaking process was underway in Paris.
With regard to the title of this book, Weintraub explains that Edmund Burke (MP for Bristol and an outspoken critic of colonial policy) had talked of "iron tears" being shed as America "slipped away from imperial grasp." He adds that "'Iron tears' suggests musket shot and cannonballs when fired as much in sadness as in anger. Was the inevitable separation worth a war?" Given the uncertainties in both America and Europe, it is debatable whether or not a colonial victory was "inevitable" but separation certainly was (for all the reasons listed in detail in "The Declaration of Independence") and the question remains valid: Was it worth a war? Weintraub draws upon a wealth of research resources to include responses to that question by a wide and representative variety of the war's observers as well as participants.
Non-scholars such as I will especially appreciate Weintraub's provision of sufficient historical information within which to establish a context for major developments and a frame-of-reference for them during an eight-year period. However, to his credit, he does not overwhelm his non-scholar readers with an excessive number of facts, dates, etc. In this regard, Weinbtraub demonstrates the skills of a master storyteller. I also appreciate his inclusion of sixteen illustrations between pages 238 and 239 (e.g. portraits and engravings of King George, George Washington, Lord North, Lord George Germain, Edmund Burke, Benjamin Franklin, and Charles, Earl Cornwallis) as well as two supplementary sections - "Participants" (pages 332-345) and "Source Notes" (pages 347-361) -- which broaden and deepen the narrative's frame-of-reference even more. Congratulations to Weintraub on a consistently interesting, often entertaining exploration and analysis of certain dimensions of the War for Independence which, for whatever reasons, had previously been neglected.
Those who share my high regard for this volume are urged to check out Terry Golway`s Washington's General: Nathanael Greene and the Triumph of the American Revolution, Richard M. Ketchum `s Victory at Yorktown: The Campaign That Won the Revolution, David McCullough`s 1776, Frank McLynn's 1759: The Year Britain Became Master of the World, and Stacy Schiff's A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America.
Well written with primary sources July 5, 2006
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
I won't spend time reviewing what this book covers, since other reviewers have already done that. To support his points, Weintraub makes exclusive use of primary sources. The book is laden with primary sources. As another reviewer stated: informative but not the easiest read.
Britain's Challenge June 30, 2006
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
Stanley Weintraub's book Iron Tears is useful in that his study shows those who have studied the American Revolution that it wasn't necessarily miraculous that the Americans won. Weintraub's book focuses mainly on the politics of England during the reign of King George III and the British Parliament under the ministry of Lord North, but with great attention to the American Secretary Lord George Germain. The British military leaders who served in America including the Howe brothers, Clinton, Burgoyne, Cornwallis and so forth are all discussed to show the results of their leadership or lack thereof in trying to win the war in America.
Public opinion in England was not united in support for subduing the rebellion in America. Many Members of Parliament were dubious of England's ability to win a war thousands of miles away in a relatively large geographic area. Weintraub does suggest in the beginning of the book that the British Parliament possessed the legal right to raise revenues from their subjects in America. As Weintraub mentioned, the British themselves had to bear an even greater burden in supporting their Empire. However, Parliament's efforts were often an exercise in futility as it only united the usually divided colonists. Political leadership in the Parliament was also less than remarkable, which didn't help their cause.
Weintraub's book focuses on the debates and troubles the British political leadership faced, as well as the lack of effective military leadership in America, both on land and at sea. The role of the press is also well discussed as it shows the level of dissent in the English ranks, both towards the war and even the king himself. Of course the Parliament was controlled by a large enough majority in support of the crown that even the ineffectual leadership exercised by North and Germain could be sustained in the face of growing doubt that the colonies could be held onto. We do get to see brief glimpses of the battles fought in America and how British strategies often failed or weren't properly exploited after initial victory, such as the Long Island-New York battles.
The British were also quick to pick up on perceived turmoil and dissension in the ranks of Washington's army and the American colonies as proof that their efforts to achieve independence would fail and therefore it was only a matter of time before they would be subdued. Though there were plenty of examples of incompetence or lack of resolve on the part of the British political and military leadership during this conflict, there were issues that legitimately hindered their commitment and focus to the American crisis. The conflicts and competition with other European powers for land and dominance such as France and Spain, the large expanse of the British Empire itself and the expense of having to support that expansive empire were legitimate issues that compromised England's ability to focus on and fully commit to the American War.
Without reciting all the events that transpired in the colonies during the American Revolution, Weintraub covers the campaigns fought up to the surrender of Cornwallis's army at Yorktown and the Signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1783, formally acknowledging America's independence. This book attempts to show how the results of the American War for Independence wasn't really all that much of a surprise; England had a lot going against it. This is a topic that has merit and shouldn't be overlooked in studying the history of this period. Weintraub's book isn't comprehensive or all inclusive, but compelling nonetheless. I noticed a few errors like the Battle of King's Mountain being fought in North Carolina, but in actuality was just south of the border in South Carolina. I also noticed some typos in giving dates for events and individuals, most noticeable in the last section of the book on Participants.
|
|
|
Powered by Associate-O-Matic
| |
