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Nathanael Greene: A Biography of the American Revolution
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Product Description
When the Revolutionary War began, Nathanael Greene was a private in the militia, the lowest rank possible, yet he emerged from the war with a reputation as George Washington's most gifted and dependable officer--celebrated as one of three most important generals. Upon taking command of America's Southern Army in 1780, Nathanael Greene was handed troops that consisted of 1,500 starving, nearly naked men. Gerald Carbone explains how within a year, the small worn-out army ran the British troops out of Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina and into the final trap at Yorktown. Despite his huge military successes and tactical genius Greene's story has a dark side. Gerald Carbone drew on 25 years of reporting and researching experience to create his chronicle of Greene's unlikely rise to success and his fall into debt and anonymity.
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #147171 in Books
- Published on: 2008-06-24
- Released on: 2008-06-24
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Binding: Hardcover
- 288 pages
Editorial Reviews
From Booklist
A top American commander throughout the War of Independence, Greene here inspires a second biographical rendering, following Washington’s General, by Terry Golway (2004). Less analytical than Golway’s portrait, Carbone’s version is more journalistic, reflecting its origin in a series the author wrote for newspaper readers in Rhode Island, Greene’s home colony/state. The benefit in book form is a brisk march through Greene’s short life (44 years) but action-packed military career. Born a Quaker, Greene, perhaps, was not meant to be a Friend: he rocketed from private to general in 1775, when Washington recruited Greene for his ability to run a tight regiment as well as his aggressiveness in the field. Greene is recognized in military history for saving Washington’s army at Brandywine in 1777 and Monmouth in 1778. His major strategic contribution to American victory was his independent command that drove Cornwallis out of the Carolinas and toward eventual defeat at Yorktown. Arranging events in a chronological illustration of Greene’s canniness in the duel with Cornwallis, Carbone’s informative portrait should connect with the American Revolution readership. --Gilbert Taylor
Review
"The personality of George Washington has so dominated the story of the American revolution that many of his able lieutenants have been relegated to history?s sidelines. One of these, Nathanael Greene, is now the subject of?a engaging new biography by Rhode Island journalist Gerald M. Carbone?[who] has made extensive use of the Greene papers, and these afford a rounded portrait of his subject." ? The Washington Times
"Carbone gives a little-known Revolutionary War leader his due in this admiring biography... [A] lucid account of the Revolutionary War from the point of view of its most successful general." -- Kirkus
"Nathanael Greene remains one of the American Revolution's most compelling yet unsung heroes. In Nathanael Greene Gerald Carbone provides a complex and absorbing portrait of a resourceful general, a devoted husband, an unfortunate businessman and an ardent American patriot. Carbone cleary admires his subject but also portrays his all-too-human human sides. Well-researched, the general's story is told against a backdrop of dramatic battle scenes, wonderful characters and revolution that seems on the verge of collapse if not for the extraordinary sacrifices of figures such as Greene, to whom all Americans will be forever indebted."--Mark Puls, award-winning author of Samuel Adams and of Henry Knox
?With a journalist?s eye for telling anecdote and pithy, but illuminating, quotation, Ged Carbone makes Nathanael Greene come alive in this lively, readable biography that is also very good history.? --Dennis Conrad, Editor, Papers of General Nathanael Greene
About the Author
Customer Reviews
Suspenseful Review of the American Revolution
It is amazing that after hundreds of years of review and many factual accounts being written that an author can bring new life and perspective to the American Revolution....but Gerald Carbone has done it with this book.
This review of the General Nathanael Greene's personal life and war time thoughts and actions are documented in letters to his family, friends, General Washington, and other major military players. These letters are woven into historical accounts of this war providing a play by play to the game of cat and mouse he played with British Generals in both the northern and southern fronts over many years. The race to victory over the second half of the book is especially exciting for a story which we already know the outcome.
Over and above the insight into Greene's thoughts and never ending planning for the war, the book provides an interesting perspective of the communication, travel and logistics of operating a war in that time period. His personal thoughts of balancing the responsibility of leading an army in war time and family duties are also intriguing.
Definitely worth reading for the whole family.
Nathaneal Greene: A Biography of the American Revolution
In "Nathaneal Greene: A Biography of the American Revolution", Gerald Carbone provides the reader with an outstanding view of the American struggle for independence, at the same time providing tremendous insight into one of our country's most significant (and perhaps tragic) figures.
The author's skillful use of the subject's own writings, as well as those of his contemporaries, provides the reader with an exceptional insight into both the characters and the tenor of the times. Exceptionally well researched and well written! An excellent read!
A real disappointment
I found this book to be a real disappointment.There is almost nothing in the book about Greene's life prior to the Revolutonary War. We are told little more than that Greene had no real military experience prior to the war. There is also little to explain Greene's quick rise through the ranks to attain his position as General and right hand man for Washington. Nor is there much analysis of Greene's decisions in the major battle's in the south which did much to seal his reputation as a military leader. All in all you can learn much more about Greene by reading a good account of the Revolutionary War.
