War of Independence: the British Army in North America, 1775-1783 by Sir John Fortescue
The War of Independence is a detailed and spirited history, told from the British perspective, of military operations during the American Revolution. Written by a foremost authority on the British Army, this superbly narrated account of the war brings to life the ebb and flow of the fighting, the colour of eighteenth-century warfare and the harsh realities of war in North America and the West Indies. This concise account of the war is taken from Sir John Fortescue's multi-volume A History of the British Army and presents an authoritative account of particular campaigns and battles with a lucid overview of such decisive factors as French intervention, political miscalculation and operations in Canada and the West Indies. Fortescue's accounts of particular battles - such as Bunker's Hill, Brandywine, Saratoga, Savannah and Yorktown - are written with verve and dash and combine a respect for George Washington and his Continental Army with admiration for British junior officers and soldiers and colourful criticism of Britain's generals and political leadership.