My American Revolution: A Modern Expedition Through History's Forgotten Battlegrounds

by Robert Sullivan

Americans tend to think of the Revolution as a Massachusetts-based event orchestrated by Virginians, but in fact the war took place mostly in the Middle Colonies—in New York and New Jersey and the parts of Pennsylvania that on a clear day you can almost see from the Empire State Building. In My American Revolution, Robert Sullivan delves into this first Middle America, digging for a glorious, heroic part of the past in the urban, suburban, and sometimes even rural landscape of today. And there are great adventures along the Sullivan investigates the true history of the crossing of the Delaware, its down-home reenactment each year for the past half a century, and—toward the end of a personal odyssey that involves camping in New Jersey backyards, hiking through lost "mountains," and eventually some physical therapy—he evacuates illegally from Brooklyn to Manhattan by handmade boat. He recounts a Brooklyn historian's failed attempt to memorialize a colonial Maryland regiment; a tattoo artist's more successful use of a colonial submarine, which resulted in his 2007 arrest by the New York City police and the FBI; and the life of Philip Freneau, the first (and not great) poet of American independence, who died in a swamp in the snow. Last but not least, along New York harbor, Sullivan re-creates an ancient signal beacon.
Like an almanac, My American Revolution moves through the calendar of American independence, considering the weather and the tides, the harbor and the estuary and the yearly return of the stars as salient factors in the war for independence. In this fiercely individual and often hilarious journey to make our revolution his, he shows us how alive our own history is, right under our noses.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, American Revolution, Travel, American History, Memoir, The United States Of America

273 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 4, 2012

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Robert Sullivan is the author of Rats, The Meadowlands, A Whale Hunt, and most recently, The Thoreau You Don’t Know. His writing has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, New York magazine, A Public Space, and Vogue, where he is a contributing editor. He was born in Manhattan and now lives in Brooklyn, New York.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/robert...

Reviews

[Matthew · Rating 2 out of 5]

Generally interesting, as I grew up and went to college around many of the locations mentioned, and have read about some of the Revolutionary War history in the areas of NYC and NJ. However, the footnotes ramble a bit too much, often starting or ending up off-topic, and the book as a whole is more about the author's study of various topics that are only rooted in, or tangential to, the Revolutionary period, rather than remaining focused in that time. Some of the discussion, as of the weather that affected many of the events around NYC and NJ during the War, was welcome. I could have done without some of the more personal accounting of the author's travails during his research for the book--a back injury carrying a too-heavy pack during his trek around Morristown, the charter boat captain's agonizing over propeller damage during a trip across NY Harbor, and his relentless search for a signal location in the NJ hills west of the Harbor. The author seemed to miss entirely the idea that things were not always so good--the soldiers that marched to Morristown in 1777 barely had shoes, they rowed across that Harbor without outboard motors, and they scouted those signal locations on foot and horse instead of by train and rental car.

[Hank Stuever · Rating 3 out of 5]

One good rule for reviewing anything is to not spend your review wishing the artist/writer had done something besides what he or she wound up doing. You have to review the work as presented and generally avoid the word "instead."

I should also say that I vastly favor narrative prose on the printed page over all the alluring, multimedia bells and whistles available to nonfiction storytellers these days.

All that said, this book really felt it would work better as a multimedia website. It needs video/film clips, it needs interactive maps and GPS, it needs photos and illustrations (ESPECIALLY when we are learning about different depictions of Washington crossing the Delaware). It needs audio narration so we can better meld with the author's inquisitive, but not academic, tone. The prose just does not get the job done here, and I say that as someone who has enjoyed the author's work in the past, and admires the way he can synthesize a lot of historical research that's already been done.

"My American Revolution" has a gentle, looping quality to it, but it reminded me too much of the Dadsplainers I sometimes see on the National Mall here in Washington, DC: These are the men of a certain age who are busily and loudly informing their tired families (or a group of middle-school social studies students) of all the many trivial details that are not included on the historical marker plaque or trifold brochure. A dadsplainer is informing people beyond their willingness to be informed, and that was my reaction to "My American Revolution" -- it is filled with fascinating information, but has no priority or structure for it, which makes it hard to keep up with the author. It's difficult to enjoy it as a pure, larky historical geek-out, a la Sarah Vowell's "Assassination Vacation."

So that's a whole lot of "instead." I guess it's a longer way of saying the book didn't work for me. My true rating would be 2.5 stars, rounded up to 3 here.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would've switched to the print version, but my library had a queue for it, so I kept with the audio for the whole twelve hours - a long ride!

The story itself begins with a focus on the war at Morristown, New Jersey (my hometown - YAY!), moving on to Washington's crossing the Delaware near Trenton, which gets bogged down in detail regarding the famous painting, as well as (too much) information about re-enactment crossings past and present. Then we move on to the author's walk from Princeton to Morristown via some obscure historical points; this aspect is more in the Travel Narrative genre as much as history. The last part covers (again obscure) details of New York City and the Revolution, including a Hudson River crossing by boat (which I found an anti-climax), ending up with an experiment as to whether a reflected signal from the hills near Morristown (20 miles west) could be seen in the city today.

Verdict: skip the audio and read the print edition. I found the narrator a poor fit here, as he reads the book almost sentence-by-sentence at times, so the rather deep-in-the-weeds historical stuff went on and on. The book itself is a worthwhile read, though I think all but the most dedicated fans of Revolutionary history will find themselves doing a fair amount of skimming.

[Andrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

Boy I wanted to like this book. I devour most Revolutionary War books, and I'm from north Jersey so it seems engineered for me to like. Instead the author seems too caught up in whatever it is he wishes to talk about which only occasionally is the sites and history of the war. I suppose his use of the personal possessive pronoun on the title should have been a stronger beacon to what was to transpire. I hoped it would be more of a look at the modern locales of forgotten war moments rather than his personal attempts to relive the march from Princeton to Morristown. And seems easily distracted, following tangents beyond topics germane to the second and third words of his title. I couldn't get more than a third into it before declaring defeat.

[Gilbert Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this book was terrific and couldn't put it down. Of course, I'm probably not your average readers since I have a great interest in the American Revolution. I'm from Canada and most Americans probably don't know that they invaded us twice in our history. In 1775, during the Revolution and once again in 1812.

But this book is not about the 'history' of the war it's about this one mans journey to the historic sited and commemorations around his native New York City.

I totally disagree with the nay sayers in their reviews. What the H...ll were they expecting?

I intend to read it again.

[Jason · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dude is clearly smart. But this book is a mess. It’s all over the place, full of padding (was the entire conversation that led to ordering a turkey sandwich necessary to reiterate?) and uninteresting anecdotes. A couple of interesting ones, too, but in the end that’s what this book is - anecdotes that aren’t particularly interesting, only a few of which are about history and many of which are about reenactors or plainly ordering turkey sandwiches.

[Frank Perdomo · Rating 5 out of 5]

A+ notes throughout, & the thoughts tucked into this
near-the-end 3-page footnote are incredibly profound;
https://twitter.com/beardofsteel/stat...

the book was published back in 2012:
twitter.com/BeardofSteel/s…
& the article @Harpers was before Election 2016,
now all of this raises more questions / repeats? @RESullivanJr

[Kathleen Brandt · Rating 3 out of 5]

If an book can be interesting and boring at the same time, this author managed it. He covered a part of history that we usually don't hear about in history books, but he did it in such a way that made me want this book to end sooner rather than later. A friend gave it to me...I would have been VERY upset if I had spent money on it.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

I actually learned so much about the "Washington Crossing the Delaware" painting that I am no longer sure if anybody really knows what happened on that fateful journey. Great personal insights into the making of history.

[Arista · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF. Rambling and oddly organized.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

An entertaining look at the history of the revolutionary war through a modern New Yorker's eyes.

[Jesse · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some interesting tidbits about lesser-known Revolutionary War era events that took place in Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey.

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't really care about the american revolution, but Robert Sullivan is so great. I love the way he writes about my place (NY/NJ).

[Doug Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

In 2006, I bought a book, Cross Country, by Robert Sullivan that was an account of a trip he took across the northern US from the West Coast east. The book contained a lot of fun and fascinating information about his journey and the places he went, along with many interesting digressions. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and placed it alongside such other great travel narratives like Blue Highways by William Least heat Moon and Travels with Charlie by John Steinbeck.

In 2012, I saw this new book by Robert Sullivan, My American Revolution. Since I also enjoy history, it looked interesting. I finally read the book in September. I enjoyed it, but not as much as Cross Country. This book is a merging of two ideas. The first is a history of particular events of the Revolutionary War in the Middle Colonies (New York, New Jersey and parts of Pennsylvania) and his own explorations of these places as they are now. .His organizational principle is to divide the book into four parts: The Panorama of the Revolution (an overview and tour of the Revolution in the Middle Colonies), Across the River and Over the Mountains, The Seasons of the Revolution, and A Signal.

Sullivan himself divides his book into what he calls three campaigns: the first consisting of Washington’s crossing the Delaware and his eventual winter encampment in the Watchung Mountains at Morristown, New Jersey; the second is based on the seasons and the weather during the war; and the third is his attempt to recreate the signals point from the Watchung Mountains to New York City by actually signaling to determine if it is possible.

The first section of his book dealing with Washington’s crossing the Delaware and the winter encampment in Morristown, opens with Sullivan’s discourse on two paintings commemorating the crossing: Washington Crossing the Delaware by Emanuel Luetze in 1848 and Washington Crossing the Delaware by Larry Rivers in 1953 (both reproduced below). Delving deeply into the history of these paintings, and the actual crossing, leads Sullivan to discuss reenactments of Washington’s crossing. The history of these reenactments (begun in 1876) is a fascinating story itself.

Turning from the actual crossing, Sullivan looks at Washington’s march following the skirmishes and battles after the crossing to the 30-mile march from Princeton to Morristown. Sullivan decides to also make the march on foot. His stops and conversations along the way are what make for the best in travel writing.

By far the greatest bulk of the book is taken up by the section based on the weather and the seasons. This section is not chronological. Sullivan opens with Spring and Washington’s return to New York City in 1789 for his inauguration as the first President of the United States. Sullivan recounts the trip from Virginia to the final barge ride across to New York City. This barge ride has been reenacted several times also and Sullivan looks at two in particular: 1932 (the 200th Anniversary of Washington’s birth) and 1939 (the 150th Anniversary of the original trip). Sullivan also reenacts his own version of the barge ride.

For Summer, he tells the story of the Revolutionary War submarine the Turtle and it’s attempt to blow up British warships. This leads to a recent attempt to recreate the Turtle. Following this, Sullivan writes extensively about the Battle of Brooklyn, a major and devastating loss for the Americans.

From Summer he moves to Autumn. Sullivan opens the season with the story of the British prison ships. The conditions on these ships were deplorable and many did not survive. Sullivan follows the sad and erratic history of attempts to memorialize these martyrs. He also tries to find locations of old forts that were built during the War.

Moving finally to Winter, Sullivan recounts the terrible winter of 1779-80 in which New York City became ice-locked when the harbor froze along with other major waterways. There were over 20 major snowstorms that winter.

Sullivan also tells the story of Philip Freneau, known as the Poet of the Revolution. Unfortunately, he wasn’t very good. However, he managed to live until 1833, thus outliving many of the Founding Fathers.

The last section of the book is about Sullivan’s attempt to signal New York City from the Watchung Mountains to see if it was possible. After many tries and a lot of time and effort, he is successful.

Overall, the book is filled with many fascinating stories and anecdotes related to Sullivan’s own experiences in traveling the path of the Revolutionary War officers and soldiers and the history of the War itself. I found it an enjoyable read and I easily recommend it to anyone interested in travelogues and American history. However, do not expect a thorough history of the Revolutionary War. This is very narrowly focused on certain events in the Middle Colonies. It is also not told chronologically as Sullivan leaps from the past and present with plenty of sidetracks and digressions.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

An odd piece of nonfiction, Robert Sullivan's most recent book, his first since the, now that I think about it, equally odd Rats. Sort of essay-ish, sort of history, sort of stunt journalism, My American Revolution takes as its starting point Sullivan's realization that most of America's Revolutionary War was fought and nearly lost and eventually won NOT in New England or Virginia, but rather right here in what local TV news anchors like to call the Tri-State Area. Manhattan and Brooklyn, Northern New Jersey, Southern Connecticut. In fact, Sullivan points out that you can actually see many of the war's most significant battle sites and staging grounds from a single vantage point, the observation deck atop the Empire State Building.

To tell the stories that his insight provokes, Sullivan slogs around former battlefields, witnesses re-enactments (most notably, Washington's crossing of the Delaware), marches upon former, um, march-routes, and ruminates. And ruminates some more. He tries to connect semi-spiritually to ghosts of the past. He interviews everyone, from obsessive re-enactors to fellow history buffs to random folks he meets on his adventures. There are some interesting perspectives here, for instance on the pivotal (though somewhat arbitrary and always utterly neutral) role often played by geography in events of great historical significance. Sullivan tries to destroy some persistent myths, he shares some fun Revolutionary War trivia, and he delivers a few genuinely great moments, including the book's final act, when he embarks upon a reenactment of his own devising, attempting to communicate from the Watchung mountains of New Jersey to his daughter's high school in Brooklyn via a hand-held mirror, reflecting the sun. But the book loses focus too often, it reads much longer than it is, and Sullivan isn't really humorous enough to pull off some of the material. In fact, I would suggest skipping this and reading Tony Horwitz's excellent Confederates in the Attic, which takes a similar look at the Civil War.

[Jean Marie Angelo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Being a native of Connecticut, and now a New Yorker, the American Revolution is a current event for me. Historic markers dot the landscape and hang on the buildings I pass on the way to the grocery store. George Washington was everywhere, and I appreciate every marker that tells me so.

I love Robert Sullivan's observation — that New Jersey, Delaware, and New York were key locations of the revolution. Seems that Lexington and Concord get more of the credit.

Here Sullivan retraces key campaigns and battles. He walks the greens of a golf course in Pelham Bay, N.Y., to write about the Battle of Pelham. He crosses the Delaware with a reenactment group. He even recreates the famous signals Washington counted on to communicate from ridges in New Jersey to parts of Brooklyn.

Sullivan obviously loves this subject matter, which makes me happy I read his book. There is so much history crammed into this book. No one can fault Sullivan's drive and research. He falls flat when he tries to weave some modern day observation into his experience. He is trying to be poignant, I am sure, but he ends up peppering his writing with little bits and pieces of local color that do not fit. He gets off point.

He spans many years of history — 1776 to Washington's Inaugural. He also covers many miles. It was a chore to remind myself of the point in history and the relevance. There are moments I forced myself to keep reading.

[Kristin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book did not meet my expectations at all. I knew it was going to be more of a memoir than a narrative, but even with those expectations I found it fractured and rambling. I found myself getting more into the parts that were narrative, like his description of his hike from Princeton to Morristown, but many of his other musings, like the interminable section on paintings of Washington crossing the Delaware, were too disconnected for my taste. And while I generally love long content footnotes in a text like this, I found a number of his lacked a direct connection to the text (one footnote referencing a Prospect Avenue in North Jersey was just a quote from George Washington about a lovely prospect from a height in Connecticut - it did not add anything to the text). The book does illuminate the historical layers of the New Jersey landscape (especially the connection between Revolutionary War signal towers, Cold War missile sites and 9/11 memorials in the last chapter). I just wish it did so in a more coherent and consistently engaging manner.

[David Lucander · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm with Sullivan on the fact that the Revolutionary history of NY/NJ is grossly under-appreciated. Boston has the Freedom Trail and Virginia has Mount Vernon, but something as basic as Evacuation Day is not even recognized anymore. There's a few cool stories and useable quotes in here, but the writing drives me nuts.

The story of the revolution is presented in a non-linear fashion, which I might just not be bright enough to appreciate. There are more than a few hokey exclamation marks (!), pointless anectdotes about performing CPR on his father or buying falafel/blueberry muffins/donuts, and arousing the ire of librarians for not checking in to use the public computers. And those drawn out sections of art history on the Delaware crossing or the passages devoted to a dinged propeller of a hired boat...

All that said, the author seems like a really interesting guy. I couldn't recommend this book, but I'd hire him as a tour guide or to give a slideshow any day.

[Tracy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a recommendation from "The Week" and I just slogged on through it. There were parts that were delightful to read and other parts that literally put me to sleep. I think if you were someone who was passionate about the Revolutionary War in the New York/New Jersey area, this would be a fascinating book to read. As someone who spent time growing up in Virginia and New Hampshire, that was not my main focus. I did learn many things about the war that I didn't know, so I feel like I didn't waste my time reading this. And I was really happy at the way the book ended.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read, especially the outline that had the author (re)visiting Revolutionary War sites today.....hiked Princeton-Morristown, rowed across NY Harbor, explored Brooklyn (and Freehold). Expecially enjoyed the attempt to prove signalling (fire) towers from NJ sites familiar to me. Greatly appreciated the footnotes that were provided, which included, in detail their reasons for selection. Recommended to history "buffs" and regional students of the Revolutionay War......Like the methodical searching for answers to clues encountered enroute!!!!

[Carmen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned so much about the Revoluntionary War! I didn't know about the Battle of Brooklyn, or that the Morristown winter was worse than Valley Forge. I didn't know about the first official poet of the US, and about the various eccentrics who saved so much of our historic records. I didn't know that 11,000 people died on British prison ships, or that a force of 400 Marylanders saved the Continental Army at the beginning of the war. All of this and more was told in a very readible style, like the author was simply talking to me about how he learned all this stuff.

[Mike Ehlers · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the idea of this book when I read a review in the Washington Post. Growing up in Virginia and living in New England you can't help but pick up some interest in the Revolutionary War. And I agree that one should get out there and experience the history around you. But the author's story came off flat at times. I think I wanted more of the looking back into the history of an area and less of the tangents about the people he ran into. But it was still a good read.

[Edward Sullivan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not my favorite of Sullivan's books but if you enjoy his typically personal, idiosyncratic, and frequently humorous approach to history, you find this book interesting and entertaining. I grew up in New Jersey so I particularly enjoyed reading about the places Sullivan visits with which I'm familiar.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

"My American Revolution", which frames the events of the colonial era in modern times, was an excellent and wholly engaging read. Much like Tony Horwitz's "Confederates in the Attic" does for the Civil War, "My American Revolution" allows the reader a living entrance into events that are ossified in the past. A very funny and fascinating book, by the author of my favorite book about rats.

[Marilee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have liked quite of few of this author's other books and really wanted to like this one much more than I did. It is certainly an interesting topic, and there is a lot to like - interesting observations and a unique perspective at least. However, the book wanders too much, and then just sort of ends. Did not live up to its potential. Feels oddly unfinished.

[Dpalange44 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not what I was expecting, but I kept reading for the tiny little nuggets of information that I found fascinating.

Why do we have stars on the flag? It's connected to the Lexell comet that could be seen with the naked eye in America around the time of the Boston Massacre. The colonists saw it as a sign their fortunes were improving. (p.233)

[Tanya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like Mark Kurlansky, Robert Sullivan can make even the most boring subject utterly desirable. He doesn't have to try here, though, as the romance of Revolutionary War history meets the grit of present-day NYC and its surroundings. Enlightening and enjoyable.

[Cyndi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book because Robert Sullivan takes you on a walk through history with him as he visits sites in NYC retracing George Washington. He looks at history through the geography of NY and NJ. If you like visiting historical sites you'll love his reflections.

[Jeff Steward · Rating 2 out of 5]

Decent read. Good vacation book. By that I mean it won't distract from the vacation, but can fill the down times. I suspect it will be better for folks familiar with the places involved. History hobbyists would also enjoy.

[David R. · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one is an unfocused historical travelogue. Sullivan sets out to "experience" half a dozen Revolutionary War sites and events in the New York metro. He frequently digresses and often fails to evoke the emotional content of the original.