I wasn't sure if Ferling could truly have anything more to say on the Revolution, but I was wrong. This book is a remarkably comprehensive, world-wide look at the American Revolution and War of Independence. It breaks out of a myopic view that focus on key players and an American-centric narrative. It's a great follow up to Ferling's Independence; furthermore, it expands the reader's understanding of the many contexts of the events of the war and diplomacy that had taken place as the Revolution played out. It is not simply an American and British story, either. France figures largely as well as Spain. Ferling's work makes the case that this War for Independence was not the seminal event of the time that we Americans consider it to be, but part of a larger global struggle for international dominance. Ferling's work as been important to the historiography of the Revolution, especially over the last 20 years. This book builds on his past work and gives us the larger narrative that up until now, has not adequately been pieced together.

You can also see this review, along with others I have written, at my blog, <a href="https://www.mrbooksbookreviews.com">Mr. Book's Book Reviews.</a>

Thank you, Bloomsbury, for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Mr. Book just finished Shots Heard Round The World: America, Britain, and Europe in the Revolutionary War, by John Ferling.

This book will be released on April 1, 2025.

This book purported to be not only be about the military aspects of the Revolutionary War, but also focus on the political decisions, being being made both here and abroad. The coverage was thorough on the military, but did not go overboard on tactics. For someone who is not really interested in the specifics of battles, I appreciated that part. But, I found this one lacking in terms of the political aspects.

I have already read four of Ferling’s books about the revolutionary era, and early America history, and have given all four of them A’s. But, due to having enough about the political aspects of the war, I did not enjoy this one as much as his others.

So, I give this book a B. Goodreads and NetGalley require grades on a 1-5 star system. In my personal conversion system, a B equates to 3 stars. (A or A+: 5 stars, B+: 4 stars, B: 3 stars, C: 2 stars, D or F: 1 star).

This review has been posted at NetGalley, Goodreads and my blog, Mr. Book’s Book Reviews

Mr. Book finished reading this on October 9, 2024.