The Men Who Lost America: British Leadership, the American Revolution and the Fate of the Empire

Andrew Jackson O'Shaughnessy

Nov 2013 · Tantor Media Inc · Narrated by Gildart Jackson

About this audiobook

The loss of America was a stunning and unexpected defeat for the powerful British Empire. Common wisdom has held that incompetent military commanders and political leaders in Britain must have been to blame, but were they? This intriguing book makes a different argument. Weaving together the personal stories of ten prominent men who directed the British dimension of the war, historian Andrew O'Shaughnessy dispels the incompetence myth and uncovers the real reasons that rebellious colonials were able to achieve their surprising victory. In interlinked biographical chapters, the author follows the course of the war from the perspectives of King George III, Prime Minister Lord North, military leaders including General Burgoyne, the Earl of Sandwich, and others who, for the most part, led ably and even brilliantly. Victories were frequent, and in fact the British conquered every American city at some stage of the Revolutionary War. Yet roiling political complexities at home, combined with the fervency of the fighting Americans, proved fatal to the British war effort. The book concludes with a penetrating assessment of the years after Yorktown, when the British achieved victories against the French and Spanish, thereby keeping intact what remained of the British Empire.

Ratings and reviews

A first for me for an understanding of the British Prospective; in my studies ive often had questions-why did they do this or that? why didnt they do this or that? this awesome book answers almost all of it for a full understanding of why thing swne the way they did. its hard to distill it all down , but the one general theme across all these men is they believed the colonies were ostly pro crown and they were not. it shaped all theri stratigies and actions.

About the author

Andrew Jackson O'Shaughnessy is the Saunders Director of the Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies at Monticello, and a professor of history at the University of Virginia. He is also the author of An Empire Divided: The American Revolution and the British Caribbean.

With acting credits that span stage and screen, Gildart Jackson is most often recognized for his role as Gideon on Charmed. He has also been featured on Providence and General Hospital, and his theater roles include Trigorin in The Seagull, Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady, and Adrian in Private Eyes at the Old Globe.