Rating: 
Summary: Fills in the Details Left Out in School
Review: Barbara Tuchman's book mainly focuses on the influence of naval forces on the emergence of the U.S. during the 18th century. She connects the few events that we all know with many of the people who were involved in a way that allows the reader to understand that era in a realistic feeling way. In the process of describing day-to-day decisions, events and conditions she removes the gloss of great victories and allows us to see "behind the curtain" and view the American Revolution and many preceding events through 18th century eyes. Travel and communication were very slow, logistics that we take for granted today were very difficult to manage, living conditions were harsh, and war was more brutal than most of us understand. Military and naval tactics evolved slowly and many of the captains and admirals of the day turned out to be petty, largely uneducated and unsophisticated with the British being among the worst. Reading between the lines, there is an implication that randomness had a much larger influence on the birth of our nation than we are taught in our public schools.Ms Tuchman's style is just right for this presentation of the subject matter. It is very readable but also very detailed. I highly recommend this book for its perspectives on the Revolutionary War era, especially if it is read in concert with books such as the recent and very popular John Adams biography that provided another first person account of this period.
Rating: 
Summary: About everything BUT the American Revolution
Review: Call me a traditionalist, but I think it is reasonable to assume that a book promising to be about the American Revolution, even one claiming a "fresh approach", should have more than a passing reference to the battle for American independence. Instead, Barbare Tuchman has given us a very scholarly and well-researched discourse on the Dutch and British navies, with an occasional mention of the conflict in the colonies. Ms. Tuchman wants to demonstrate the importance of the Dutch navy, the Dutch's recognition of American vessels, and their willingness to trade with the colonies despite Britain's embargo, on the overall outcome of the war. That is all well and good, but she gets so hopelessly bogged down in detail that the average reader loses focus as she meticulously explores topics such as the history of the "ship of the line" method of naval warfare, complete with irrelevant digressions on earlier British court martials of admirals from the 1740's who deviated from the rigid rules of naval warfare. If you have a unique interest in the conflict between the British and Dutch navies, and the historical context of the American Revolution to that European conflict, than this is the book for you. Otherwise, stick with an excellent book like Robert Leckie's George Washington's War for a gripping, historical, chronological description of the American Revolution, including its major and minor players both here and in England.
Rating:
Summary: Some good information, but terribly written
Review: From reading the notes on the cover, I bought the book thinking that it would cover a European perspective on the American Revolution, showing how the war tied into a greater world conflict. While some of that is done, it is not the focus of the book. In fact, I would say that there is little focus, but there are many flaws, which was disappointing given the reputation of the author that is trumpeted on the cover.
There is some focus on the greater naval and colonizing competition between France and Britain surrounding the period of the war, as well as some initial information about conditions in Holland leading up to and surrounding the period. This in itself would be an interesting subject for a book, as long as it was better written than this one. (One note, to me, there was not nearly as much coverage of Dutch involvement, after the first couple of chapters, as another review seemed to imply.)
She, somewhat bizarrely, dedicates a lot of text praising, and defending the honor of Admiral Rodney of the British navy. This includes a chapter of 50 out of the 300 total pages dedicated to the story of his life before the war. This chapter was so boring I pledged to quit the book twice while trying to get through it, when my levels of frustration and boredom surpassed my naturally strong urge to finish any book that I start, only to twice come back to the book after a couple of days, vowing to fight through the muddle.
She includes many of her own, seemingly suspect conclusions, and a lot of information that is almost unrelated to the stated subject of the book. For example, the vagaries of rigging and directing a square-rigger could be an interesting subject, but it's not what I want to read about at length in a book about the American Revolution.
Perhaps the most galling is the total lack of respect given to time. I think that a perceptible timeline is rather important in a book about historical events, but the author's habit of constantly jumping forwards and backwards in time, along with her maddening penchant for stating and then later restating facts and stories, combine to make the timeline practically impossible to discern.
I am not familiar with any of her other books, two of which have apparently won Pulitzer Prizes, but I would honestly expect better written presentation from a decent high school student. I gave it as many as 2 stars only because there is some good information in the book, though it takes a lot of effort to find it all.
Rating: 
Summary: Not Barbara's best
Review: I am a big fan of Barbara Tuchman. She turned me on to history more than anyone else with fantastic books like "Guns of August", "The Proud Tower" and others. This book, however, is not of the same caliber. I spent much of the book trying to grasp her main point as she threw all kinds of facts at us and jumped around the narrative. The book covered the American Revolution almost from a European perspective, which was important, but in such a short book she could not do the topic justice. What we are left with then is bits and pieces of what seemed to be a larger book cut and pasted into this one. That was the feeling I got while I read it. The coherency typical of Tuchman's books and beautiful writing did not seem to be there. Having said that, I feel she is still far superior than many history writers and is the "gold standard" by which I judge all historians.
Rating: 
Summary: Better than taking sleeping pills.
Review: I am a lover of history. American, English, and Roman are my favorites. A good history book, brings history alive. This book does not. It is one of the slowest, dull books I've ever tried to read. Mrs. Tuchman should find another line of work, as she has no business pretending to be an author. This book does not rate a review longer than this.
Rating:
Summary: Compelling Writing
Review: I read The First Salute as a high school senior more than a decade ago. It was one of the main reasons I have become an avid student of history, especially U.S. history. As all her readers have found, Tuchman has a gift for telling history with passion and suspense. I recommend anything she has written--even a grocery list.
Rating:
Summary: Finally, the Real Revolutionary War
Review: I'd like to say that Barbara Tuchman saved her best for last, and in many respects, she did. However there will be many out there who will not appreciate the slow build-up of The First Salute. Like a sailing schooner waiting for a breeze before finally being able to move, Ms. Tuchman's account of the American Revolution mirrors her main subjects - the French fleet, and that of the Englisman Sir George Brydges Rodney. More than once were they all stuck somewhere in their ships waiting (seemingly forever) for a wind so they could get underway. I felt like this book was waiting to get "under sail" too, mainly at the beginning. But I think you will find that not only is the wait worth it, but once you finish the book, you will realize just how brilliant the author really was in chosing this method to effectively drive home her points by clever use of point of view - Despite what Disney would have us belive, the Americans didn't rally to fighting or winning this war. Congress was as slow, and often made as little sense then as it seems to do from time to time now - Washington was a miracle worker for somehow keeping an army on the field at all. The American Revolution was won by French and Dutch money, and mainly the French military (yes it was fought by many brave Americans too, but there was too much apathy, too much self-interest, and there were too few in number to ever WIN it). Through the story of Rodney, the reader is given a unique perspective from which to witness the incredible mismanagement of the war by the British, insight into those self-destructive practices and entrenched egos that characterized monarchy, and just how close this war was to being lost and how easily it could have turned out differently. Tuchman also does not miss the chance to remind everyone just how far we still have to go to live up to those principles for which the war was supposedly fought - The end of her Epilogue will knock your socks off. All in all, another treasure from Barbara Tuchman.
Rating: 
Summary: Classic Tuchman. A Wide-ranging Look at the Revolution
Review: Opinions seem to be split on this book, with some readers praising it and others offering, well, not so much praise. I'm a Tuchman fan, so my opinion may not be entirely unbiased, but I thoroughly enjoyed The First Salute. And I can, and will, confidently recommend it to other Tuchman fans. As for the rest of you, I don't think you'll be disappointed if you decide to give it a whirl, but to make up you're mind, let me tell you a little more. First of all, don't read First Salute if you're looking for a detailed account of Revolutionary events on land or on sea. To use a metaphor from my college days, if this were a history course, it would be a 100 level survey class, not a 300 or 400 level class. That caveat aside, First Salute is an easy and enjoyable read. True, it may not keep you on the edge of your seat as other reviewers have said, but it will hold your interest. Tuchman, with her usual wit, provides an outstanding overview of the revolution. And despite the generality, Tuchman does shine the spotlight on characters and events that have been overshadowed by more powerful, dynamic people and events. For instance, the book's title comes from the first official recognition of American sovereignty by the Dutch outpost on St. Eustatius, which fired its guns in salute of an American naval ship flying revolutionary colors. Tuchman does a wonderful job of telling this and other stories, and most history buffs as well as the majority of Tuchman fans will not be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Classic Tuchman. A Wide-ranging Look at the Revolution
Review: Opinions seem to be split on this book, with some readers praising it and others offering, well, not so much praise. I'm a Tuchman fan, so my opinion may not be entirely unbiased, but I thoroughly enjoyed The First Salute. And I can, and will, confidently recommend it to other Tuchman fans. As for the rest of you, I don't think you'll be disappointed if you decide to give it a whirl, but to make up you're mind, let me tell you a little more. First of all, don't read First Salute if you're looking for a detailed account of Revolutionary events on land or on sea. To use a metaphor from my college days, if this were a history course, it would be a 100 level survey class, not a 300 or 400 level class. That caveat aside, First Salute is an easy and enjoyable read. True, it may not keep you on the edge of your seat as other reviewers have said, but it will hold your interest. Tuchman, with her usual wit, provides an outstanding overview of the revolution. And despite the generality, Tuchman does shine the spotlight on characters and events that have been overshadowed by more powerful, dynamic people and events. For instance, the book's title comes from the first official recognition of American sovereignty by the Dutch outpost on St. Eustatius, which fired its guns in salute of an American naval ship flying revolutionary colors. Tuchman does a wonderful job of telling this and other stories, and most history buffs as well as the majority of Tuchman fans will not be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: How a small country is great
Review: Reading this book was very interesting. Not many people read their own history interpreted by a foreigner. This book gives a very nice insight in the Dutch history and should be a must for everyone interested in de creation of the US of A and European history around that time. I'm not a historian but very much interested in history itself. The only I regret after reading this book was the fact that Barbara W. Tuchman didn't write my college history books, it would have been much more interesting.
JLA vd Reijden
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