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Record Nr. |
UNINA9910792016003321 |
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Autore |
O'Shaughnessy Andrew Jackson |
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Titolo |
The men who lost America : British leadership, the American Revolution, and the fate of the empire / / Andrew Jackson O'Shaughnessy |
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Pubbl/distr/stampa |
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New Haven, Connecticut : , : Yale University Press, , 2013 |
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©2013 |
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ISBN |
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0-300-19524-9 |
9780300195248 (electronic book) |
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Descrizione fisica |
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1 online resource (xiv, 466 pages) : illustrations, plates (colour) |
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Collana |
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Lewis Walpole series in eighteenth-century culture and history |
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Soggetti |
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Napoleonic Wars, 1800-1815 - Participation, British |
Great Britain Army History Revolution, 1775-1783 |
Great Britain Politics and government 1760-1820 |
United States History Revolution, 1775-1783 British forces |
United States History Revolution, 1775-1783 Campaigns |
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Lingua di pubblicazione |
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Formato |
Materiale a stampa |
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Livello bibliografico |
Monografia |
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Note generali |
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Published in the United Kingdom by Oneworld Publications under the title: The men who lost America : British command during the Revolutionary War and the preservation of the empire. |
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Nota di bibliografia |
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Includes bibliographical references and index. |
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Nota di contenuto |
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Part I. The view from London. "The tyrant": George III ; The prime minister: Lord North -- Part II. Victory and defeat in the north (1776-1778). The peace commissioners?: the Howe brothers ; "The old gamester": John Burgoyne ; "The Achilles of the American war": Lord George Germain -- Part III. Victory and defeat in the south (1778-1781). "The scapegoat": Sir Henry Clinton ; "Bagging the fox": Charles, Earl Cornwallis -- Part IV. Victory against France and Spain (1782). "Saint George": Sir George Rodney ; "Jemmy Twitcher": The Earl of Sandwich -- Conclusion -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index - Colour plates follow page 178. |
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Sommario/riassunto |
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The loss of America was a stunning and unexpected defeat for the powerful British Empire. Common wisdom has held that incompetent military commanders and political leaders in Britain must have been to blame, but were they? This intriguing book makes a different argument. |
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Weaving together the personal stories of ten prominent men who directed the British dimension of the war, historian Andrew O'Shaughnessy dispels the incompetence myth and uncovers the real reasons that rebellious colonials were able to achieve their surprising victory. In interlinked biographical chapters, the author follows the course of the war from the perspectives of King George III, Prime Minister Lord North, military leaders including General Burgoyne, the Earl of Sandwich, and others who, for the most part, led ably and even brilliantly. Victories were frequent, and in fact the British conquered every American city at some stage of the Revolutionary War. Yet roiling political complexities at home, combined with the fervency of the fighting Americans, proved fatal to the British war effort. The book concludes with a penetrating assessment of the years after Yorktown, when the British achieved victories against the French and Spanish, thereby keeping intact what remained of the British Empire.-- |
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