SCARS of INDEPENDENCE
“It is difficult to extricate the Revolutionary War from the romance of national mythology, but Holger Hoock offers an important correction in Scars of Independence, the first book to examine the tragic and shocking role of violence in the conflict.”
—ANDREW O’SHAUGHNESSY, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA, AUTHOR OF THE MEN WHO LOST AMERICA
“Scars of Independence is a brilliant, comprehensive history of the Revolutionary War that accents how this bloody and destructive conflict touched the lives of ordinary men and women. Holger Hoock’s account goes beyond well-known Founding Fathers at war to show the violence and terror that befell soldiers and civilians on both sides. This is an important book that should be read by all who seek a better understanding of the true nature of America’s War of Independence.”
—JOHN FERLING, AUTHOR OF WHIRLWIND: THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION AND THE WAR THAT WON IT
“War, by definition, is about violence, but Holger Hoock’s brilliantly written book is perhaps the first to use violence as its main focus for understanding the War of American Independence. He highlights some truly shocking instances of violence—on both sides—in a gripping (if at times stomach-churning) account. All students of the American Revolution and its war should read this book.”
—STEPHEN CONWAY, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON, AUTHOR OF THE BRITISH ISLES AND THE WAR OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE
“[A] fresh approach to a well-trod subject…Deeply researched and buttressed by extensive useful endnotes, this is history that will appeal to both scholars and general readers. The author presents his grim narrative in language that is vivid without becoming lurid….An accomplished, powerful presentation of the American Revolution as it was, rather than as we might wish to remember it.”
—KIRKUS REVIEWS, STARRED REVIEW