audiobook Reach for the Sky: The Story of Douglas Bader; Legless Ace of the Battle of Britain (Bluejacket Books) by Paul Brickhill in History

Description

A study of military tactics and strategy before the War of Independence; this book reexamines the conquest of the North American wilderness and its native peoples by colonial settlers. Historians have long believed that the peculiar conditions of the New World; coupled with the success of Indians tactics; forced the colonists to abandon traditional European methods of warfare and to develop a new "American" style of combat. By combining firearms with guerrilla-like native tactics; colonial commanders were able not only to subdue their Indian adversaries but eventually to prevail against more conventionally trained British forces during the American Revolution. Yet upon closer scrutiny; this common understanding of early American warfare turns out to be more myth than reality. As Guy Chet reveals; clashes between colonial and Indian forces during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries did not lead to a reevaluation and transformation of conventional military doctrine. On the contrary; the poor performance of the settlers during King Philip's War (1675–76) and King William's War (1689–1697) prompted colonial magistrates to address the shortcomings of their military forces through a greater reliance on British troops and imperial administrators. Thus; as the eighteenth century wore on; growing military success in the New England colonies reflected an increasing degree of British planning; administration; participation; and command. The colonies' military and political leadership; Chet argues; never rejected the time-tested principles of European warfare; and even during the American War of Independence; the republic's military leadership looked to Europe for guidance in the art of combat.