Michael Greenburg

I've been aware of the ill-fated Massachusetts expedition to what is now Maine since I was a teenage military history nerd, and that Paul Revere was involved in the debacle, but this blow-by-blow examination of Revere's part in the failure is quite enlightening. Dealing just with Revere one is left with the picture of a man who, while competent in most things in his life, had no real talent as a military officer and lacked the self-insight to admit this reality to himself; though as an ambitious individual he appears well-aware that the real prestige would accrue to those who had borne military rank in the war. As it was Revere was fortunate to survive the debacle in terms of social status, as while he added to his reputation as a difficult man, higher placed officers (particularly Continental naval commander Dudley Saltonstall) received most of the blame. The author has a nice touch in terms of giving you the flavor of the times without trying too hard to read the minds of his subjects; a complaint I have about a lot of popular history.… (mais)

Thought I had reviewed this months ago... sorry for the delay. My comments really mirror those of torrey23, below. This book added a great deal of detail to my knowledge of Paul Revere, even though I've read quite a bit about him. Thanks to the author for that. This is a fine example of bringing to public a new look at an otherwise overlooked aspect of the American Revolution. I'm sure there are others. I hope there are more of these types of well-researched and well written books available in the future.… (mais)

I am an avid student of the Revolutionary War. As such, I typically know at least a little bit about any event of the war. I was completely unaware of the Penobscot Expedition, and I was clueless about Paul Revere's military career. I knew him from the events leading up to, and through, Lexington and Concord. After that, he had no real connection to the war; or so I thought. This book is a great account of a little-known military expedition, and a great look at the unknown life of a famous American. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who seeks to learn more about America's founding.
This book is easy to read, engaging, and understandable. Greenburg does an excellent job of telling a story vividly, explaining the important facts of the story, and not getting bogged down in the minutiae that has been the downfall of many an, otherwise, excellent history.… (mais)