Rating: 
Summary: American deserved this book
Review: Fischer's book on Washington's crossing of the Delawar and the subsequent battles of Trenton and Princeton is a marvelously written book. Washington's Crossing is written by a historian that loves to tell stories. Fischer apparently loves to write because he does it so well and his book is full of footnotes, notes and maps; enough to keep any second rate amature historian happy for weeks.Fischer's attention to the details associated with the principles of the story is also impressive. Even the private soldier isn't overlooked. The trials and tribulations of Washington and his army are well documented by Fischer. Reading this book drives home the sacrifice made by so many of the citizens of the wonderful country. Fischer's coverage of the "enemy" especially that of Cornwallis is also impressive. For any reader looking for a true picture of the early days of the American Revolution, Washington's Crossing is for you.
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Summary: Perserverence, Sacrifice, and Humility
Review: For even the 'light at heart' readers, this book was informative and presented in a light to shine on what Americans were and how we became what we are today.
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Summary: Very Good Narrative of a Pivotal Encounter
Review: I found that this book is a very good, though somewhat incomplete, narrative of the 1776 New Jersey campaign. The most helpful thing I did before reading this book was to read Thomas Fleming's "1776 Year of Illusions". Fischer's book struck me as being almost two books in one. The first recounts the events from the end of the siege of Boston through the 1776 battles for New York. The prose, while servicable, is not compelling and the narrative goes by in very large blocks. This first part deeply disappointed me. For this part, Fleming's book was invaluable. He put the events of 1776 in a larger political context so that what was happening made more sense. In Fischer's book, Germain and North are merely mentioned. Fleming fully realizes these two crucial figures. Fleming also puts Washington's campaign in perspective with other military activities, admittedly outside of Fischer's purview. However, once the action moves to New Jersey, Fischer settles in and appears to be more interested in what is going on. The prose improves greatly and the details are put forward. I like the idea (as noted in another review) that Fischer usually lets the reader know what the controversies are and how he sorted them out. The details are fascinating and Fischer has a number of contributions to the story. However, Fischer, to me, never really gives life to Washington. While I do not think he is a cardboard figure in this book, he is rather distant. Nor does Fischer, as another reviewer noted, effectively chronicle Washington's evolution as a leader. There are other areas where the incompleteness interferes with understanding what is happening such as with Charles Lee. This is where the Fleming book was so helpful. I found Fleming's prose to be very compelling. In his book Washington becomes almost human. His evolution as a leader is clearly shown. The effect of what Fleming calls "Bunker Hillism" is clearly traced. Fischer has the same concept but it is, to me, unfocused. I also believe that Fleming makes the ties between the political and military arenas clearer. Of course, Fleming by covering all of the events of 1776 does not have the detailed focus that Fischer has. Further Fleming's book, from 1976, does not have the sources from after that date that Fischer has. These sources certainly seem to have made an impact on our understanding of the events. In summary I find that Fischer's book is indespensible for its details and its conclusions about the 1776 - early 1777 New Jersey campaigns. Fischer also has really wonderful material on the legacy of the events and how they have been treated over the years. But for a fuller view of where these events fit in the overall conflict, and for some points that Fischer seems to be incomplete about, I would recommend this book in tandem with other sources.
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Summary: Thoroughly enjoyable!
Review: I primarily read fiction but loved this! The book was enthusiastically recommended to me by a bookseller in Manchester, VT, and I wasn't disappointed. I particularly enjoyed reading about George Washington's leadership style and about the battles which took place in late 1776/early 1777.
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Summary: Historical Narrative at its Finest
Review: It is impossible to say which is more impressive - the author's writing ability or his reasearch and scholarship. Mr. Fischer writes in a lucid prose that is reminiscent of Freeman and Foote for its entertainment value. His scholarship is superb: nearly one-third of this book consists of appendices and notes. Where a source or document has doubtful provenance, Fischer explains the origins of the allegation or story, his attempts to prove or disprove it, and why he ultimately would not use or rely upon it.
For a fresh take on a seminal event in U.S. history, compellingly placed in a perspective both for our time and of theirs, I cannot commend this book highly enough. I will now seek out and read his Paul Revere.
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Summary: Neither Rain nor Snow...
Review: Many historians have in recent years picked up on the idea of so-called social history or what David Donald has called, "The intense study of the unexceptional." Since I tend to agree with Donald's opinion of this new movement among historians I was dismayed to find that the Editor's Note promised (or warned) that this book was that kind of study. Therefore I started this book with much trepidation and with the idea that I was not going to be impressed at all. I didn't have to read to many pages however before I found that my premonition of doom was very much a mistake, for there is very little in this book that I didn't find to be very enlightening and enjoyable.
The author does spend a good deal of time writing about what the common soldiers of both armies were suffering through but he does it in such a way that it only adds flavor to the bigger story he is telling. One gets a real feel for the miseries of the night marches through mud, ice, snow and rain with inadequate shoes and clothing. As the story unfolds one has to wonder how the men of either army managed to survive the weather, let alone combat. The author also tells of the infamous treatment suffered by the civilian population of New Jersey at the hands of British and German troops. This behavior turned a fairly docile population into angry patriots and this contributed mightily to the success of later American efforts.
Throughout most of this book Professor Fischer is very kind to George Washington and in the case of the disaster at New York perhaps too kind. On the whole though the author offers what seems to be a very credible picture of Washington the general and the trials he faced. In the modern age of instant communications it is hard to imagine that in 1776 Americans from different states had little in common except language and sometimes not even that. Washington faced a difficult task in fusing this disjointed group into an American Army but he did it and Fischer explains how. The author also clearly shows how Washington and his lieutenants learned from their mistakes and grew into their roles. The lessons learned in this campaign by Nathaniel Greene would become very important as the war wore on. It would also turn out to be very important that Lord Cornwallis failed to learn much at all from his Jersey experiences.
Most important of all however is that the American cause that was about to collapse in mid December 1776 was on the offensive by the following spring. The thesis of this book is that the campaigns that started with "Washington's Crossing" were a turning point in American history and the author makes a very compelling argument for his thesis. The campaigns of the winter of 1776-77 are not often given the credit they deserve in deciding the outcome of the American Revolution, an error I have been guilty of myself. Reading this extremely informative, well-written and thoroughly researched book has made a believer of me and hopefully it will influence generations of historians yet to come.
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Summary: Inspiring history with lessons for today
Review: Most Americans can recall the image of Washington crossing the Delaware from the famous 19th century painting. Fewer (myself included prior to this book), however, know the true significance of the Battle of Trenton. In Washington's Crossing, historian David Hackett Fischer places the Battle of Trenton in its historical context. The result is a fascinating history that is a work of masterful storytelling.
One of the things that I really like about this book is that it is so complete and well organized. Fischer begins by discussing the three armies that were in the American colonies in 1776: the English regulars, the Hessian mercenaries, and the American patriots. The cultural and military differences between these forces are not only interesting but they were to have a major impact on the way the war was waged. Next, the fall of New York, with its dire implications for the American cause, is described. Even though we all know how the story eventually ends, Fischer was able to get me on the edge of my chair as if I was reading a thriller. The effects of the works of Thomas Paine, the British campaign through New Jersey, the Battles of Trenton and Princeton, and the Forage War of 1777 comprise the remainder of the body of the book. Throughout, Fischer introduces people and events often forgotten by the average history textbook. As a former art history student, I remember scoffing about Washington standing up in the boat. As Fischer explains, all the soldiers crossing the Delaware that day had to stand because the water covered the bottom of the boats! That is just one of the many instances where history comes to life in this remarkable book.
Fischer wraps up his book with a conclusion that brings all of the threads together. Washington's crossing is proved to be an historical turning-point, not just an iconic painting. One of the most powerful ideas I was left with was the American "policy of humanity". As conceived by these men of the Enlightenment, patriots treated their British and Hessian prisoners as if they deserved the same rights that the Americans were fighting for. I found that incredibly inspiring and applicable to modern day events.
You will also be left with awe for Washington and the Americans of the time. I have never been a hero-worshipper of Washington's, but you have to have enormous respect for a man who created victory out of seemingly inevitable defeat.
The closing line of the book says it all: "The story of Washington's Crossing tells us that Americans in an earlier generation were capable of acting in a higher spirit - and so are we."
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Summary: Compelling, perceptive history at its best
Review: On a number of occasions I have recommended David Hackett Fischer's "Paul Revere's Ride" as one of the finest American history books I have ever read, a display of deep research, perceptive analysis, and a highly compelling prose narrative. With "Washington's Crossing" Fischer has matched his earlier book. Just as the title incident in "Paul Revere's Ride" served to signify Fischer's broader study of the earliest days of the American Revolution and the battles at Lexington and Concord, here Emmanuel Leutze's 1851 painting "Washington Crossing the Delaware" is the emblem chosen to represent the most crucial days at the end of 1776 when that Revolution seemed on the edge of collapse, but George Washington and his army in battles at Trenton and Princeton and in the little-known actions afterwards reversed the course of the war and set the British on the path to ultimate defeat. Although most Americans probably have at least a passing familiarity with Washington's surprise victory over the Hessians at Trenton on the day after Christmas, 1776, Fischer's account highlights an equally crucial, yet barely remembered, battle at Trenton a week later when the American forces withstood a counterattack by Lord Cornwallis's forces, setting the stage for a daring overnight march by Washington around the British army to win another victory at Princeton. Over the next several weeks, the British and Hessian occupation of central New Jersey collapsed as the Americans, heartened by the events at Trenton and Princeton, struck repeatedly and successfully at detachments of foragers who discovered that the supposedly pacified countryside was suddenly hostile territory. Within a few months British generals who had believed the rebellion almost crushed found that the path to victory had vanished in the snow and mud. Fischer presents vivid portraits of the generals and common soldiers on both sides of the conflict, while dispelling old myths. The Hessians at Trenton were not awakened from drunken sleep after Christmas carousing. The American army, although sometimes short of clothing and food, was well-armed and typically enjoyed a battlefield superiority in artillery. Washington comes across as a far more complex and flexible character than he is usually depicted (in a lengthy appended essay, Fischer surveys more than two centuries of artistic representations of Washington and the victories at Trenton and Princeton), but the real heroes of Fischer's narrative are the ordinary soldiers of the Continental Army and the local militias. He argues persuasively that these men were genuinely motivated by their ideals of liberty (although a New Englander of Glover's Marblehead Regiment might differ from a Pennsylvanian frontiersman or a Virginian planter as to exactly what constituted liberty and a proper society) and it is they, not just the generals riding boldly across painted canvases, who deserve much of the credit for maintaining the Revolution and seizing the initiative to take the war to the British and Hessian garrisons and thus reverse the course of events. And Fischer highlights a consequence of the American commitment to the ideals of liberty: while Hessians and even British troops were regularly offered to take no prisoners, the Americans in general during these campaigns treated their prisoners with compassion and even generosity because of their belief that it was the right thing to do. In his closing, Fischer writes: "The most remarkable fact about American soldiers and civilians in the New Jersey campaign is that they ... found a way to defeat a formidable enemy, not merely once at Trenton but many times in twelve weeks of continued combat. They reversed the momentum of the war. They improvised a new way of war that grew into an American tradition. And they chose a policy of humanity that aligned the conduct of the war with the values of the Revolution. They set a high example, and we have much to learn from them. Much recent historical writing has served us ill in that respect. In the late twentieth century, too many scholars tried to make the American past into a record of crime and folly. Too many writers have told us we are captives of our darker selves and helpless victims of our history. It isn't so, and never was. The story of Washington's Crossing tells us that Americans in an earlier generation were capable of acting in a higher spirit - and so are we."
Rating:
Summary: 2500 Change the Course of History
Review: Six months after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Revolution was all but lost.
The British routed the Americans at New York, occupied the three colonies and advanced within sight of Philadelphia. George Washington's army, having lost 90 per cent of his troops, was in shambles.
On Christmas Eve, Washington rallied his men, crossed the Delaware in a howling nor'easter and attached the British mercenaries at Trenton. The army representing the young country killed or captured almost 1,000 of the enemy. During the next 12 weeks, Washington struck the British again and again, shaking them badly. Traumatized, the British hold on New Jersey was broker; their strategy discredited.
This is a great book. Painstakingly researched, well-written, it casts new light on one of our country's most crucial periods of history.
Rating:
Summary: Informative, academic, and READABLE!
Review: The Publishers Weekly blurb succinctly captures the basics of the book and Fischer's important contributions to better understanding the importance of the Crossing, the Battles of Trenton and Princeton, and the guerilla war in Jersey. More importantly, Fischer points out Washington's excellent military leadership. General Washington has taken a lot of heat for supposedly not measuring up to other military greats; but he better appreciated the "big picture" of winning the war, even if he lost his fair share of battles. More civilian and military leaders today should better appreciate what made Washington's war-leadership successful.
Fischer also fully discusses the Hessians' contributions to the war; they are often underappreciated components of the British forces.
Finally, his bibliographic essay and appendixes are fantastic for those wanting to quickly find important little tidbits about Washington, the Revolution, or the specific battles of Trenton and Princeton.
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