Sarah Tanksalvala

Breadth and flare

Reviewed: 04-04-18

I bought this book because it was the sequel to Rebellion, which was one of the best-written history books I've read. Revolution didn't disappoint. While I did feel it was a tad rushed at times, overall it was an excellent book. Ackroyd's greatest strength as a writer is his eye for interesting detail, picking out engaging anecdotes which fit perfectly within his broader narrative. The broader narrative, itself, is balanced and insightful, showing the connections between events in a way that's both nuanced and engaging.

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Interesting and enjoyable

Reviewed: 10-09-17

This is a well-researched and fairly balanced account of the ratification of the US Constitution. It's just fascinating to hear about the passions, the corruption, and the different social and political groups that all played a role in ratification. It's fascinating to hear about the state-by-state differences in both federalists and "anti-federalists," with Massachusetts' Constitution skeptics being so very, very different from, say Pennsylvania's. It's well written, and nods to the ways historical context led to the different debates, and even the different forms of corruption. Really, it's just amazing.

The narrator is pretty good, though he did slip into a bizarre southern accent while portraying uneducated New Englanders.

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1 person found this helpful

Don't waste your time.

Reviewed: 10-03-17

This book was just a collection of random quotes and stories that did nothing to enhance my understanding of the Tories, their . motivations or how their experiences shaped their choices. There isn't even more than a sentence worth of discussion of Benedict Arnold's motivations, though he featured relatively prominently in the book and is a well known figure. There is no coherent narrative, and no real underlying theme except that people weren't very nice to each other in the Revolutionary War. It doesn't rouse sympathies or enhance understanding in any way. The only good thing that can be said is it discusses a little of the Black experience during the war, but that is underdeveloped like everything else.

The narration was passable, I guess, but not good.

I had seen negative reviews of this book, but was curious enough about the Tories that I figured this would be better than nothing, as good a starting place as any. It wasn't.

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A solid overview of early New England history

Reviewed: 06-26-17

What made the experience of listening to Mayflower the most enjoyable?

I appreciated that the author avoided either being too cynical or too naive about a story which, as he noted, has formed the center of our national myth since the Civil War. He tried hard to be objective and view the Pilgrims as human, neither the shining paragons of virtue the Victorians depicted them as, nor as evil genocidal maniacs (which you could certainly feel they were at some points in the story). Instead, he just treats them as ordinary humans in a hard situation, products of their time who did some great things, some terrible things, and made the most of a bad situation while sometimes making the situation worse with their own inexperience. King Philip's War was a fascinating story and I was glad it was included. My main problem with the book is that it occasionally got too disjointed. A lot of the Philip's War discussion was just a recitation of the timeline of events of the war, so I sort of phased out during a lot of that. Sometimes the details included were a bit random (like Massasoit's gastrointestinal issues during his bout with Typhoid...), and then details which I wanted to know were left out, or questions I began to wonder about. So while it's a good overview, you don't walk away feeling like you've gotten a comprehensive story in the way that I have felt in some other Audible history books.

Any additional comments?

My main problem with the book is that it occasionally got too disjointed. A lot of the Philip's War discussion was just a recitation of the timeline of events of the war, so I sort of phased out during a lot of that. Sometimes the details included were a bit random (like Massasoit's gastrointestinal issues during his bout with Typhoid...), and then details which I wanted to know were left out, or questions I began to wonder about. So while it's a good overview, you don't walk away feeling like you've gotten a comprehensive story in the way that I have felt in some other Audible history books.

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The Revolutionary War as you've never heard it.

Reviewed: 05-28-17

This book gave context to the American Revolution that gave new depth to the story. Understanding the British political context to the war both makes the British more sympathetic and the Americans more intriguing. You also can't listen to the book without drawing parallels to later events and even the present day. The book focuses almost exclusively on New England, but that's mostly because, as little as the Brits understood Boston, they understood Virginia even less. This is from their perspective, after all!

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Fascinating history!

Reviewed: 02-19-17

I was instantly hooked by this history, and there was never a dull moment. It's an interesting subject anyway, but this book was particularly good. The author tries to understand both the English and Native side of the story, and in his exploration finds fascinating parallels between the two cultures. Well narrated, and just a great book.

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2 people found this helpful