Read as part of CBR 17 Bingo: starts with letter B.
Look this is going to be a very strained review. I’m sorry but this book doesn’t merit 250 words. As it says on the inside flap, large portions of this book originally appeared in The New Yorker. It’s a glorified wikipedia entry.
I picked it up because I needed to read a book about the American Revolution for my library book bingo and it was a slim volume. I knew Manhattan had some importance in the Revolutionary War before the British drove Washington off the island for good until independence was achieved. But I didn’t know how. This more-or-less explains the how.
What I loved about this book was how Bruce Bliven, Jr. kept talking about locations and comparing them to their real life (as of the 1960s when this was published) counterparts. He would talk about how Washington set up camp on 125th street and how the British attacked at 14th, etc., which was all enjoyable to me and had me thinking about Washington actually sitting atop Sugar Hill and trying to see the British attack from Brooklyn through the lens of his telescope. What can I say? I’m literal minded and that provided me with much needed entertainment.
The book also covers that Washington was an overrated general and good for it.
The book doesn’t cover any sort of indigenous presence. I’m not an expert on the indigenous populations of that area but just because the Dutch “bought” Manhattan from the Lenape (stole it) doesn’t mean the Lenape weren’t around somewhere. Maybe someone smarter than I can chime in the comments. This was a blight on an otherwise perfectly fine and perfectly brief recollection of how the battle unfolded. No more, no less.