A Few Bloody Noses by Robert Harvey
The War of Independence was one of the founding events of today's world, but it has been simplified into a myth of liberty against oppression, right against wrong. A recent Hollywood film The Patriot, even borrowed atrocities from the Nazis and ascribed them to British redcoats.;In reality London was simply too distant to rule with a heavy hand. The Boston Tea Party notwithstanding, taxes were only an excuse for protest - they were routinely avoided. What angered settlers more was the law that stopped them seizing Indian land. Love of liberty ran deep, but economics and demography were the driving forces of revolution - and it challenged not just Britain but American's own social order. Far from being united in patriotism, American in 1776 was violently divided over independence. Conversely, many in Britain favoured it, especially in preference to bloodshed.;The war was marred by incompetence and bad faith on both sides. It was also close. Before Yorktown, the rebel generals thought they were losing. But they knew they could not be defeated in the long run, as much as 200 years later in a war of striking similarities, the Vietnamese knew the same.After the fighting, about eight per cent of Americans left the country. Following four years of misrule the Constitutional Convention imposed its own conservative counter-revolution, and from cunning, idealism and courage emerged the most powerful nation the world has yet seen.
' There is not a dry bone in this bookHarvey weilds his pen like a sabre, slashing with gusto at cant and received wisdom, and he leads an exhilarating charge into history' -- Raymond Seitz
Robert Harvey has been a distinguished journalist and MP. He is also the author of several books, among which Liberators: Latin America's Struggle for Independence was described in The Sunday Times as 'an exhilarating and wildly enjoyable ride from start to finish'. He lives in Wales and London.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780719561412 |
| ISBN 10 | 0719561418 |
| Title | A Few Bloody Noses |
| Author | Robert Harvey |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | John Murray Press |
| Year published | 2001-10-04 |
| Number of pages | 491 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |