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  • The Men Who Lost America: British Leadership, the American Revolution and the Fate of the Empire

  • The Lewis Walpole Series in Eighteenth-Century Culture and History
  • Written by: Andrew Jackson O'Shaughnessy
  • Narrated by: Gildart Jackson
  • Length: 21 hrs and 5 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (2 ratings)

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The Men Who Lost America: British Leadership, the American Revolution and the Fate of the Empire

Written by: Andrew Jackson O'Shaughnessy
Narrated by: Gildart Jackson
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Publisher's Summary

The loss of America was a stunning and unexpected defeat for the powerful British Empire. Common wisdom has held that incompetent military commanders and political leaders in Britain must have been to blame, but were they? This intriguing audiobook makes a different argument. Weaving together the personal stories of 10 prominent men who directed the British dimension of the war, historian Andrew O'Shaughnessy dispels the incompetence myth and uncovers the real reasons that rebellious colonials were able to achieve their surprising victory.

In interlinked biographical chapters, the author follows the course of the war from the perspectives of King George III, Prime Minister Lord North, military leaders including General Burgoyne, the Earl of Sandwich, and others who, for the most part, led ably and even brilliantly. Victories were frequent, and in fact the British conquered every American city at some stage of the Revolutionary War. Yet roiling political complexities at home, combined with the fervency of the fighting Americans, proved fatal to the British war effort. The audiobook concludes with a penetrating assessment of the years after Yorktown, when the British achieved victories against the French and Spanish, thereby keeping intact what remained of the British Empire.

©2013 Andrew Jackson O'Shaughnessy (P)2013 Tantor

What the critics say

"[An] engaging study . . . based on an extensive reading of the vast literature and of many original sources." (Brendan Simms, The Wall Street Journal)

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A very informative read.

amazing how politics then is much the same as it is today. Crazy way to wage a war.

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