The Revolutionary War: America's Fight for Freedom

by Bart McDowell

Part rebellion, part civil war, part world conflict, The American Revolution - more than seven years of blood and bitterness - gave birth to a nation and direction to a people. This book will take you across the land of the colonists to relive their victories and defeats. You will meet the heroes and the villains of America's fight for freedom - Benjamin Franklin, Benedict Arnold, Thomas Jefferson, King George III, Bloody Tarleton, and George Washington. Almost 200 paintings and photographs, more than a dozen maps and battle paintings combine to help make this book exciting and memorable.

Genres: History, Military History, American History, Nonfiction, American Revolution, American Revolutionary War, United States

199 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1967

About the author

Bart McDowell was an award-winning writer and senior editor at National Geographic magazine in Washington for 32 years. During the course of his career he wrote nearly three dozen articles and several books.

Mr. McDowell worked on six continents and in 67 countries.

He was an officer in the Navy during World War II.

Reviews

[Jon Gautier · Rating 3 out of 5]

For whom was this book written, and why did I read it? The second is easy, I read it because it has been on my shelf for decades, and I’ve been hauling it around, packing it and unpacking it, for all that time. And I finally got to it. And I’m glad I did. It has what you’d expect from Nat Geo, lots of nice pictures, maps, photographs. And a not terribly challenging history. A little sanitized here, a bit glossed over there. American victories are given plenty of loving ink. British victories get not so many paragraphs. So it’s a little Disney, a little Hallmark. But it’s also pretty good, a decently written, well-researched, and reasonably comprehensive account of the War, with just enough politics thrown in for it all to make sense.

But the real charm of it is the author interspersing accounts of his family’s battlefield and campaign tours with the history of those battles and campaigns. So here is Benedict Arnold, desperately wounded as he leads the assault against Quebec in a violent snowstorm on New Year’s Eve 1775, and here is the McDowell clan, author dad, with mom and the three kids, standing at the very spot Arnold fell, looking up at a snow and ice covered cliff; Christmas in Quebec. Also, mad respect to McDowell for always visiting sites at the same time of year the battles occurred. So Monmouth in the Summer, Saratoga in the Fall, Valley Forge in the Winter, and so on. It’s hard to overrate how important that is. And then there are the usually cute and sometimes trenchant comments of the McDowell children. We learn about the Revolutionary War along with Bart’s kids. Don’t knock it, it’s not as hokey as it sounds, and for me the approach made all the difference between a dull textbook (from the 60s!) and a vivid personal story.

So for whom was it written? It is not detailed enough for war buffs, nor is it scholarly in any way, but neither is it for kids; it’s not big enough for a coffee table. I think in some ways its audience was middlebrow but serious Nat Geo subscribers who wanted just enough history to know what they were talking about, or to which they could refer in a pre-internet time. I can imagine the 1960s bookshelf with a number of these histories sitting there. And a book like this with its many colorful pictures could spark a lifetime interest. The old American Heritage Civil War volume certainly did that for me.

So you’ll probably never come across this, but if you do, it might provide a few fun hours, either as an introduction, or a reminder. I’m happy to have read it.

[Professor · Rating 3 out of 5]

My grandparents gave me a copy of this when I was four and it only took m just under 31 years to read it cover to cover, though as a lad I loved the beautiful paintings depicting various events during the war. As and adult this is a fine, if dated (first published in 1967) refresher/introduction to the basic events of the war. The author essentially takes the reader along on his family trips to the key points of the war, the sorts of trips I took with my family growing up, an interesting addition that leaves me, 45 years later wondering what his children actually thought of the obsessive trips and just how many of these locales are still as they are presented in the book. My grandparents are sadly long gone, but perhaps they know that I've finally "joined Yankee Doodle in these pages" as they suggested so long ago.

[Brad · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a National Geographic book. The author does a good job writing a concise history of the Revolutionary War, basically from 1776-1783, while interweaving his own family vacations, at appropriate times of the year, following the various battles and marches and actually getting his kids involved in history.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting take on the presentation of the history of the Revolutionary War. Mr. McDowell and his family travel to the various sites of the war from beginning to end in the seasons that each battle was fought and share their experiences. It was so cool to hear the kids' take as the ages varied from toddler to teenager.

[Lex · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this book because of this paintings in there

[Felix Omondi · Rating 5 out of 5]

thanks

[William Razavi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been in the middle of a deep dive of American Revolution books (thanks, Ken Burns) and so I went back to this old chestnut along with newer works and more serious studies.
This is one of series of National Geographic books from the late 1960s through the mid 1970s that covered history and cultures and often featured reprints or extensions of articles from National Geographic (or the books were previewed in the magazine as articles).
Like the American Heritage books from the same period these books (and this one in particular) are lavishly illustrated with lots of color and maps and while the text doesn't always age well the illustrations do and even more recent efforts tend to be cheaper in terms of design.
The text doesn't always age well in these books but at least here there's a first person angle that makes it a primary source for reception studies.

I'll elaborate. Bart McDowell uses a lot of first person to tell us the story of his family's outings to research all the locations of the events of the Revolutionary War. (Many of the photos are basically family vacation photos.) So the book is about history but it is also itself a history of the US in the mid-20th century and of their reception of 18th century events. McDowell's trip includes his wife and several children whose commentary and questions stand in for our own. (The whole thing has a homeschool vibe to it.)
The first person style was a definite part of National Geographic articles from the same period, which made sense since many of them had been written by explorers, scientists and the like.
(Supreme Court Justice Douglas wrote several articles documenting road trips through various countries.)
So we get a lot of lessons about the revolution and the war through the prism of children asking questions.
This is not a Gordon Wood book, to be sure.

The object of the book, obviously is to provide some stirring patriotic Cold War era murmurs of the heart for those who had been raised on American myths and this can be read as a supplement to the myths. It doesn't bury the history, even if it does try to smooth it over as you would expect.
This is not a children's book despite having the voices of actual children recorded in it.

Slavery is mentioned here and there, as are the contributions of notable free black people, so it's not Frank Miller's 300 level erasure when it comes to that, but of course every effort is made to make the founding fathers look like the marble men of the myth in the end.
Indigenous folk fare the worst in terms of bad narrative. (This is where Ken Burns in both film and book manages to provide the best tonic.)

One of the best visual features is the use of aerial illustrations that show the course of several engagements over time (Bunker Hill, Trenton, Saratoga, & Cowpens) In terms of original material these are some the best contributions of this book to the subject. The period illustrations look beautiful and a runner up are the mid-20th century insurance calendar paintings which bring the visceral qualities of pulp novel covers to subjects like Henry Knox moving artillery in the snow. This is a major market for artists that is lost to AI slop these days and it's a real shame.
I would love to see history publishers pay artists to make more of these kinds of images.

The narrative does a good job of covering from the Stamp Act period and ends in 1783 with the final conclusion of hostilities, the treaty and, of course, Washington retiring back to Mt. Vernon.
In one of the codas there we are told that Horatio Gates (victorious at Saratoga and humiliated at Camden) ended up freeing his slaves and moving north at the end of the war, which raised his reputation a bit compared to his compatriots as far as I'm concerned.

For the most part I'd say this book is worth it for the illustrations and is otherwise a good conversation starter about American history, myth, and its receptions.

I will note the copy I read was a 1983 reprint so I'm not sure if there were any editorial changes between the original 1967 version and this one.

[Dave Goldberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book, even though it is very dated. Basically, Bart McDowell takes the reader along with his family on a chronological tour of all the important events (and sites) of the Revolutionary War. The writing is clear, with just a dash of dramatic story telling. Add to that McDowell's regular references to the observations and comments of his family as they go on this Revolutionary road trip. I liked it, but some people may find it grossly self-indulgent. Nothing really new or surprising about this history, but it is a a good place to start if you are interested in the Revolution. Add to that the National Geographic photos, and you have a good read.

[Kristi]

The Revolutionary War; America's fight for freedom by Bart. McDowell (1967)

[James Violand · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good summary and tour of the war that changed world history.