Lexington and Concord: The Battle Heard Round the World

Excellent book about the deteriorating relationship between the colonies (Massachusetts and Boston in particular) following the Boston Tea Party to the "shots heard round the world" on the morning of April 19, 1775 and the immediate aftermath.The author puts well into comparison the state of the colonies during this time versus other British domains like Ireland and how the standard of living and liberties the Americans enjoyed would never be taken without a fight. These rights and liberties were jeopardized when London passed the "Coercive Acts" aka the Intolerable Acts, following the Boston Tea Party and set the colonies and mother country onto an inevitable collision course.The chapters about the actual battles are towards the end of the book and are fairly brief. David Hackett Fischer's account in his book, " Paul Revere's Ride", in my opinion, is a much better book about Revere's (et al.) ride to Lexington and the battles that followed.This book's strength is in the detailed path to war, the personalities and political ambitions of London's ministers and the military leaders deployed to Boston. I think the book could have included more maps that included troop positions and movements throughout the day of April 19, 1775 but otherwise this was an excellent book and very easy read.

This book is advertised as a "magnificently detailed account of the battle of Lexington and Concord," but it is really anything but. The book is approx 293 pages of text. The story begins in January 1774, and the shots fired on Lexington Green don't happen until page 219. The "expedition" ends on page 264. You get the idea. The pictures in the book are portraits of politicians and senior leaders, many of whom had no role in the battle. I don't care what George III or Abigail Adams looked like, for example. There are no maps that depict troop movements. The author has an extensive bibliography, but is highly opinionated in how he felt the key leaders were making decisions, such as Pitcairn and Gage, for example, and those key observations are not adequately supported with citations.The author's opinions on the conduct of the battle were unrealistic. He heaps much praise on Captain John Parker's French and Indian War experience, and the combat expereince of many of the minutemen, but believes John Hancock, a political leader with no military experience, should have given taken charge and issued command guidance before the battle started. Similarly, the idea that under ideal conditions the British force could have staged a river crossing in the dark to Charleston neck in an hour is neither realistic, nor supported by research. As a retired infantryman, I think his comments on the soldiers of the British Army in chapter 22 showed, at best, a superficial grasp of what 18th century military service was like. And lastly, there are multiple theories as to how the first shot was fired at Lexington Green. The author simply presumes the British fired on purpose, and lied about it. Case closed.This is a fair presentation of the political backdrop and road leading to the war's outbreak, but the battle itself was superficiallyand weakly presented.

The most detailed auf interesting Version kg this Topic vu far. The detail of the characters auf die Researcher hd evident.WonderfulRead.

Great Read! The last few Revolutionary War books were tough reads, this book was well written and full of more background facts than the actual battle. The reader can learn any number of surprises, like Benjamin Franklin's efforts to avoid the war and his beliefs that America would be better off with Britian till there was no choice and the bullheadedness of the King that caused it all. Very worth reading! One of my Revolutionary War ancestors responded to the Lexington Alarm, but being from Woodstock, Ct did not get there in time for the actual battle but served in the area for 7 months afterwards during when the British in Boston fled to Canada.

Great background on the revolution!!

This is a valuable book for understanding the events that led up to the beginning of the American Revolution, in particular Great Britain's actions toward Boston. The author describes developments as they happened and as participants understood them, giving a clear sense that both sides were making things up as they went along. This is a wonderful book and deserves to be read by anyone who wants to know what it was like for these events to unfold as they did.

A great history of the start of the Revolutionary War. Very informative and easy reading. Very highly recommended book for American history lovers.

A wonderful and fascinating book! Sheds deep light on important moments in our history with the much needed insights into what was occurring in Britain and as we ran up to the Lexington Massacre. The research is superb, the action is bracing and you can almost smell the black powder smoke. An extremely satisfying read!

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