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Rating: 
Summary: the crossing,by howard fast
Review: having just viewed the a&e presentation on television,i was surprised to see general horatio gates present at the meeting or council of war that washington held at the merrick house. i can find no fact in actual histories that place gates at this meeting.since this is a novel perhaps the author is allowed some deviation from history.
Rating: 
Summary: A little disappointed
Review: I read this based on the fact that I enjoyed the movie adaptation so much. The movie credits characterized it as "a novel", but if it is a novelized telling, I can't say that I cared for the almost complete "third person" way in which it was done. If Howard Fast could write such great dialogue for the screenplay, I'm not sure why he didn't do it for the book itself. I believe it would have had a more readable flow to it. It couldn't seem to decide if it was a novel or a factual narrative. His historical notes in the back were more interestingly told than the "story" itself. I may have thought better of it if I had read the book first, but after the screenplay, it was a disappointment.
Rating:
Summary: A little disappointed
Review: I read this based on the fact that I enjoyed the movie adaptation so much. The movie credits characterized it as "a novel", but if it is a novelized telling, I can't say that I cared for the almost complete "third person" way in which it was done. If Howard Fast could write such great dialogue for the screenplay, I'm not sure why he didn't do it for the book itself. I believe it would have had a more readable flow to it. It couldn't seem to decide if it was a novel or a factual narrative. His historical notes in the back were more interestingly told than the "story" itself. I may have thought better of it if I had read the book first, but after the screenplay, it was a disappointment.
Rating:
Summary: Not As Good As Video
Review: I read this book after having watched the A&E production The Crossing. The screenplay for the video was written by Howard Fast, who also of course wrote this book. The video is much better. The book is not well written and it does not go into great depth about the Battle at Trenton. It does, however, provide information that is not in the video and thus is a useful companion to the video. The book makes clear that the video changed some things for dramatic effect. For example, the book makes clear that Washington did not choose to attack Trenton on Christmas Day because he expected the Hessian troops to be caught off guard on that day; that is the day that coincidentally was the first day he could launch his attack. The video, though, makes it seem as though he calculated it to be on Christmas Day. The book does not capture the heroic qualities of Washington in the same way as the video. However, it is worth reading as a way to enhance understanding of what is being depicted in the video.
Rating:
Summary: Not As Good As Video
Review: I read this book after having watched the A&E production The Crossing. The screenplay for the video was written by Howard Fast, who also of course wrote this book. The video is much better. The book is not well written and it does not go into great depth about the Battle at Trenton. It does, however, provide information that is not in the video and thus is a useful companion to the video. The book makes clear that the video changed some things for dramatic effect. For example, the book makes clear that Washington did not choose to attack Trenton on Christmas Day because he expected the Hessian troops to be caught off guard on that day; that is the day that coincidentally was the first day he could launch his attack. The video, though, makes it seem as though he calculated it to be on Christmas Day. The book does not capture the heroic qualities of Washington in the same way as the video. However, it is worth reading as a way to enhance understanding of what is being depicted in the video.
Rating: 
Summary: A nice way to fill in the gaps.
Review: I've read the historical accounts of the Delaware Crossing and the subsequent battle of Trenton. However, Howard Fast's work puts you inside the head of the characters. Granted some of this can be done with historical documents, but it can be clumsy and certainly less literate than this book. It's not a true history book, but it's a great way to get started or to help you visualize what happened.
Rating:
Summary: A nice way to fill in the gaps.
Review: I've read the historical accounts of the Delaware Crossing and the subsequent battle of Trenton. However, Howard Fast's work puts you inside the head of the characters. Granted some of this can be done with historical documents, but it can be clumsy and certainly less literate than this book. It's not a true history book, but it's a great way to get started or to help you visualize what happened.
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