Reading Brothers at Arms: American Independence and the Men of France and Spain Who Saved It Book

Brothers at Arms: American Independence and the Men of France and Spain Who Saved It

Written By: Larrie D. Ferreiro
Download Brothers at Arms: American Independence and the Men of France and Spain Who Saved It PDF.In this groundbreaking, revisionist history, Larrie Ferreiro shows that at the time the first shots were firIn this groundbreaking, revisionist history, Larrie Ferreiro shows that at the time the first shots were fired at Lexington and Concord the colonists had little chance, if any, of militarily defeating the British. The nascent American nation had no navy, little in the way of artillery, and a militia bereft even of gunpowder. In his detailed accounts Ferreiro shows that without the extensive military and financial support of the French and Spanish, the American cause would never have succeeded. France and Spain provided close to the equivalent of $400 billion and 90 percent of all guns used by the Americans, and they sent soldiers and sailors by the thousands to fight and die alongside the Americans. Ferreiro adds to the historical records the names of French and Spanish diplomats, merchants, soldiers, and sailors whose contribution is at last given recognition. Instead of viewing the American Revolution in isolation, reveals its global implications.

What They Said About This Brothers at Arms: American Independence and the Men of France and Spain Who Saved It Book (Reviews):

Margaret Sankey

Writes about Reading Brothers at Arms: American Independence and the Men of France and Spain Who Saved It Book
If you're a scholar of the American Revolution, or the 18th century in general, nothing about this is as "untold!" or "groundbreaking!" as the blurbs would have you believe--Ferreiro is laying out, in a detailed and popularly entertaining way, the global view of American independence and its role in the grand strategies of the European great powers. That this meant the French and Spanish assisted us is not a signal of their love of liberty, but of their revanchist goals and conservation of their colonial authority, despite the personal impression made on men like Lafayette. The details are vivid--George Washington's Royal Gift donkeys, Caribbean hurricane damage, the British navy's coppering program (4.5 billion $ in today's currency) and Neil deGrasse Tyson's descent from the Comte de Grasse's French Revolution refugee family.

Carl

Writes about Reading Brothers at Arms: American Independence and the Men of France and Spain Who Saved It Book
Here's another one that I read for a New Books Network interview with the author, but my enthusiasm is all genuine. I loved readying this book and I learned a ton from it. Basically, Ferreiro draws on decades of research in archives and on battlefields across the US and Europe to detail the smuggling, espionage, gun running, and politicking that wrested the United States from British control. It's a fantastic corrective to the kinds of generalist history that I imagine most of us got in high school, so on a conceptual level I'm happy recommending this to anyone who wants to revisit the American revolution from a new angle (if has renewed your curiosity, this is a fantastic place to start!). I don't imagine specialists will find it particularly shocking or groundbreaking, but this might be a useful source for the stable if the archival research is new.Dr. Ferreiro advances the argument that for the governments of France and Spain, defeating the British in the American colonies was as much about achieving their own interests in the sphere of European power as it was about heeding the call to advance the ideals of liberty and justice across the Atlantic, and that the relationships that developed between France, Spain, and the new United States did more to shape American institutions and ways of life that we often acknowledge. It's packed with really great anecdotes and stories that I hadn't heard before, and it's all written in a really engaging and interesting voice. Overall, I'd say this is a really helpful revision of the national myth that the American colonies rose up and threw off imperial oversight solely by the unity found in the strength of their convictions. It's a somewhat globalist return to the 1760s and 70s that weaves together military, economic, diplomatic, and social history with fascinating stories of the European soldiers, sailors, merchants, and ministers who conspired and collaborated to give the north American colonies a fighting chance.