Revolutionary Summer: The Birth of American Independence

• Author: Ronald T.P. Alcala
• Position: Judge Advocate, U.S. Army
• Pages: 234-241

234 MILITARY LAW REVIEW [Vol. 217

REVOLUTIONARY SUMMER:

THE BIRTH OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE1

REVIEWED BY MAJOR RONALD T. P. ALCALA2

No event in American history which was so improbable

at the time has seemed so inevitable in retrospect as the

American Revolution.3

I. Introduction

In Revolutionary Summer, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Joseph Ellis

retraces the events that defined the fateful summer of 1776. Ellis

describes that summer as a “crescendo moment” when critical decisions

about independence, the political character of the United States, and

national defense altered the course of American history.4 To provide a

more complete account of the “crescendo moment,” Ellis interweaves

both political and military developments into a single, unified narrative,

because as Ellis remarks, “the political and military experiences were

two sides of a single story, which are incomprehensible unless told

together.”5 By placing the two side-by-side, Ellis succeeds in showing

how each exerted pressure on the other as political and military leaders

alike struggled with the new realities of American independence.

Unfortunately, Revolutionary Summer’s reliance on generalities limits

its value as a work of historical scholarship. While merging politics and

military affairs into a single narrative proves insightful, the “single story”

Ellis attempts to tell in 188 brief pages lacks the substance of more

thorough histories of the time, including earlier works by Ellis himself.6

Ultimately, although Revolutionary Summer’s perspective on politics and

military operations illuminates important points, the book’s reliance on

generalities diminishes its scholarly appeal. Other, more carefully

1 JOSEPH J. ELLIS, REVOLUTIONARY SUMMER: THE BIRTH OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE

(2013).

2 Judge Advocate, U.S. Army. Student, 62nd Judge Advocate Officer Graduate Course,

The Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School, U.S. Army, Charlottesville,

Virginia.

3 JOSEPH J. ELLIS, FOUNDING BROTHERS: THE REVOLUTIONARY GENERATION 3 (2000).

4 ELLIS, supra note 1, at ix.

5 Id. at x.

6 Id.