The American Revolution: A World War

History professor Ferreiro (Brothers at Arms: American Independence and the Men of France and Spain Who Saved It) and Allison (senior scholar at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History) present an enlightening anthology of 16 essays from historians that persuasively argue that the American Revolution “was not simply a colonial uprising, but a world war.” Some of the war’s battles were waged in places as far-flung as India (between France, which had joined the Revolutionary War on the colonial side, and Britain), and even more startling is the contention that the American portion of the wider war, which Americans often think of as the most important part of it, was not the most crucial to the British Empire. The contributors, who make extensive use of primary sources such as Alexander Hamilton’s correspondence, provide just the right amount of detail for the layperson as they examine the French, Spanish, Dutch, and Indian roles in the war, along with more granular questions such as how European allies supplied the colonials with uniforms and weapons. This thought-provoking volume, which is a companion to an exhibit opening at the Smithsonian, is accessible, assuming no prior knowledge; it may even, as the exhibitions’ organizers hope, convince American readers that international alliances are important today. (Nov.)