Charles E. (goldenhawk) reviewed Tories: Fighting for the King in America's First Civil War on + 3 more book reviews
An extensively researched and very well written account of America's first civil war. The last page of the author's treatise thumbnails the basic fact of our revolutionary war: it was a war fought between Americans and Americans. Within a year after the war ended about 100k Americans left their homes, most relocating to Canada. These emigres transformed a wilderness into a vibrant nation. Today 1/5 of the Canadian population can claim Tory ancestry. Within a generation the people below the border started a country built by Rebels who would begin to forgive and forget the fact that they largely fought against their brethren and their neighbors, minimally supported by the greatest military power at the time. Lost from their collective memory was a war between Americans and Americans, somehow being arrogantly transformed into a war against the British and their German mercenaries. I found this book extremely enlightening, revealing the untold story not taught in any history class or book I read during my educational experience, including the part played by escaped slaves who joined the British forces when offered their freedom.
