Bunker Hill: A City, a Siege, a Revolution
By Nathaniel Philbrick
Viking, May 2013
$32.95
This
is an astonishingly fresh and well-written example of popular history at its
best. I highly recommend this splendid book to anyone who has the
slightest interest in the genuine revolution that made this country. The book
is gripping in its narration of the beginning conflict in a war whose
importance nearly everyone “knows,” though aside from George Washington -- who
did not enter the picture till Bunker HiIl was over -- few of the major players
are known outside specialized classes taught in college. Along with
eloquent mini-bios of several movers and shakers, including Paul Revere, John
Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, and the traitor Benjamin Church,
Philbrick introduces us to the heroic Dr. Joseph Warren, who directs much of
the preparation among the patriot “Minute Men,” leading to the staggering
outcome that still surprises, though it happened in June of 1775.
As
for the “battles” of Lexington and Concord, and the real and terrible battle of
Bunker Hill (Breeds Hill), this book is vivid testimony to the author's
understanding of the profound influence of the past upon the present.
True,
one begins such a book thinking skeptically, “Oh-oh, another book on the
legendary battle above Boston,” but as the tale unfolds, the author's
ability to engage the reader's interest moves this page-turner from incident to
incident, and via his well known mastery of detail (evidenced in Sea of
Glory), he
actually manages to provide
a
telling lesson from history, via his bloody and unflinching chronicle of the
battle itself. At the same time, he never loses sight of the human
element.
It is
impossible here to summarize Philbrick's impressive grasp of the
importance of the events he covers, but as he tells the story through
decisions made (or not made) by the characters themselves, the core of that
“victory” in the Revolutionary War is revealed, as from behind a curtain
of myths and fantasy. We see how the physical necessity and violence of war
brought out the bravery and self-sacrifice of the patriots who fought there
and, in the process, started a national life, forged in the crucible of battle.
Bunker Hill names an epic event that made a rebellion into something much
greater. Nor are the British dismissed as badly led fools marching into
hell: They come across as equally brave, if not equally inspired.
I
warrant that Bunker Hill will land on the short list of books that
historians love as much as the general public, since the author spares nothing
in his biographical précis of the major actors in the drama. And drama it is.
In the end one puts the book down reluctantly, with new understanding of why
the “provincials” met the challenge -- and won through in the end, eight years
later.
reviewed by Kenneth
C. Wylie
Northport,
Mi
April
30, 2013
Nathaniel
Philbrick’s IN THE HEART OF THE SEA won the National Book Award in 2000, and
his MAYFLOWER was a Pulitzer finalist. Among other titles, he is known to some
readers of Books in Northport as the author of WHY READ MOBY-DICK?
Kenneth
C. Wylie, a freelance writer, received his Ph.D. in African History in
1967 at Michigan State University and his B.A. from Albion College in
1960. He has taught at Wayne State University, Lehman College of CUNY, the
Maritime College of SUNY, and Michigan State University. He has published
books on Africa, as well as pieces on wildlife and the
environment, ranging from the Common Crow to the vanishing legend of
Bigfoot. He is also the author of a short collection of poems centered on the
magnificent landscape around his rural home near Traverse City.
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