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As of February, 1775, Massachusetts was declared to be in a state of rebellion to the British government. Just under a year and a half later, the Thirteen Colonies jointly declared themselves independent.

This was an event that was by no means obvious or considered likely in February 1775, and John Ferling takes a deep dive into the political process that led to the Declaration of Independence in his book. It is fairly focused, keeping all the attention on the activities of the two Continental Congresses. That’s still more than enough people to be impossible to get an entire cast of characters. But he does bring in all the prominent people on both sides of the argument, and mentions the fates of many of the signers at the end.

Naturally, one of the main themes is just how events propelled Congress from a solidly reconciliationist stand (that is, most everyone just wanted this over—on their terms) to being convinced that Great Britain would never give them what was desired, and that staying in the empire would be more harmful than enjoying its trade and protection (notably from other European powers).

The book moves well, and while it often felt like to me that there was no clear picture, that is the problem with trying to trace the separate thoughts of a good number of people. Subjects are tackled in a largely chronological framework, which is essential as Ferling is trying to show the shift in opinion. The main shortcoming I see is there’s lots of attention on the extremes (those, like the Adamses who felt independence was essential from early on, or before the Revolution—and showing just where this conviction came from would have been nice, but presumably impossible—and those who steadfastly supported reconciliation), but not so much on those who truly changed their minds.

There is a good look at the apparent shift in public mood, and the political revolution that followed Congress’ advice to the colonies to move away from the pre-war colonial charters. This did a lot to shift the political climate in the state legislatures, and prompted a change in instructions to the delegates to Congress to allow for independence. I could wish for a bit more on some of those politics, though Pennsylvania’s internal struggles (the most bitter) are talked about.

Naturally, he spends some time time time on the Declaration itself, as well as the drafting of it, and the voting to adopt it. He spends a little less time on the first paragraph (which he dismisses as ‘usually forgotten’, but I remember from school) than I’d like, but of course talks about the sources for the main part of the second paragraph (which is what it largely remembered and referred to today), and gives a nice accounting of the various charges leveled at George III in it, without rehashing what is today generally a tedious list of general complaints, and talks about what they generally referred to.

I had actually picked this up a few years ago, but reading it right after Atkinson’s The British Are Coming was a good pairing as each is focused on what the other largely avoids, across much the same time period.

The first volume of Rick Atkinson’s Revolution Trilogy shows that there’s quite a lot I don’t know about the Revolutionary War. Like a lot of people, I have a good grasp of the outline, and know a few more things, but this book goes into a number of things I hadn’t been aware of.

This is fairly purely popular military history. He goes into the immediate causes of the war, and shows what is happening in England at various points, including a prologue that starts with a naval review by George III in 1773, and includes activities in the ministry, and of course efforts to move men and supplies overseas. In comparison, the Continental Congress is conspicuous by its absence. It is talked about often enough, including the effects of its decisions, but not the process of those decisions. The Declaration of Independence is read out to the army in New York during mid-July 1776, but the deliberations leading to it are not even touched on.

This is, in the end, a laudable maintenance of focus, as there’s already much going on in here. Just be aware that the politics surrounding the war, that saw some really deep thoughts about just what the goals were, are left out.

What is here is a very readable, but detailed look at the actions of the war. There’s also a good look at some of the logistics involved, from the Continental Army’s chronic lack of gunpowder and guns, to all the things the British had to ship across the Atlantic as it became obvious that requisitioning supplies in America was not going to be possible. There’s some good mentions of the chaos done to British plans by various storms delaying and damaging ships, not to mention all the wastage they were suffering.

Most surprising to me were sections on the American invasion of Canada (featuring a guest appearance of Benjamin Franklin, and actually managed to take most everything outside of Quebec itself), and the… ‘floating governments’ of the southern colonies. Despite telling the government back home that all would be well with a few regulars to put down rebels, most of the royal governors in the south were forced to flee, and ended up on Royal Navy ships.

Naturally, Lexington and Concord get a lot of attention and detail, along with the entire Canada campaign. Then there’s very good accounts of the sieges of Boston and New York (that’s really what those extended campaigns come down to). And then ends up with the retreat across New Jersey, Trenton, and Princeton. Since that last really was the disaster that showed this war would not come to a quick close at the start of 1777, it makes a very good end point for the book.

There’s more minor actions of course, and all along the way Atkinson makes generous use of diaries and letters, giving plenty of detail or illustrating points through first-hand accounts. Overall, I was quite happy with the book, and the pages flowed by quickly.