Books and Movies about American Independance War and Colonial Life

[historix69]

Hi,

idea of this thread is to collect a list of interisting books and Movies which are settled in the same historical background as Colonization ...

I will start with some of my favourites (probably Col1 influenced me a lot) :

Books :
1. * Barbara Tuchman : The first Salute

(Very interesting book I found by accident : How the French paid and won the US Independance War and how British navy failed ...)

2. Frank Adam : Hornblower, Bolitho & Co. - Krieg unter Segeln in Roman und Geschichte (Seawarfare in the age of sailing ships in novel and history)

(A small german book about the history of seawarfare in 18th and 19th century with a lot of background details ... I think there is no translation ... I added it for the German visitors of this forum)


Movies
3. LAST OF THE MOHICANS

A great movie about the French-and-Indian-War ... Shows some nice fighting of europeans against indians and siege-warfare (french against british fort) ... Soundtrack is also great ...

4. 4. Mel Gibson - The Patriot

If you saw this movie you know why soldiers in Civ4Col now can get Swamp-Promotions I-III.

Note : I added links to amazon so the books/movies are easier to identify

 

[ChrTh]

The best book for understanding the causes of the Revolution is The Glorious Cause (by Middlekauf), it's also really good for the constitution discussion. Battle discussion is strong, but since it covers so much territory it leaves out all the personal anecdotes (no mention of the Conway Cabal, very little mention of Benedict Arnold, etc).

Angel in the Whirlwind is another comprehensive Revolution book, highly readable but gives the Southern Campaign short shrift. For that, the recommendation is The Road to Guilford Courthouse, which I haven't read yet but I've heard good things about.

The Radicalism of the American Revolution is a phenomenal book that details the changes in society both causing and as a result of the American Revolution. Great book to read with Tocqueville's Democracy in America (although that covers early 19th century).

American Scripture (Maier) is currently considered the best work regarding the Declaration of Independence. You can't go wrong with either David McCullough or Joseph Ellis (they've both written multiple books on the Revolution). And if you're interested in the battles in NYC, Trenton, and Princeton in 1776, Washington's Crossing is great (and Pulitzer Prize Winning).

In terms of what life was like on the frontier, I'm currently reading the Daniel Boone biography by Robert Morgan and that has some good details (it won't teach you to skin a deer, but it will tell you when to skin one). For life in the city, I'm going to recommend Johnny Tremain. Yes, it's a young adult book, but I think it's an excellent one. And it inspired Bart Simpson, so you know it's good (it's also fantastic for its palpable derision of Samuel Adams).

Books I haven't read but are well-regarded (and thus on my list to read) include Paul Revere's Ride (forget the author), Devil of a Whipping (about the battle of Cowpens, on which The Patriot is loosely based), and Leap in the Dark (another book about the entire Revolution).

As for the movie The Patriot ... it might give you a sense of the time, but in terms of historical accuracy, well, it's just lousy. Here's how bad it is: the National Park in Cowpens doesn't sell it in their gift shop, and National Parks sell anything even remotely related to their park (the National Archives in DC sells 'National Treasure', with it prominently displayed).

And if you love musicals (and who doesn't?), 1776 is very well done (although some dialogue is 'stolen' from future utterances of the participants).

The recent John Adams miniseries on HBO is supposedly very good; I own it on DVD but haven't watched it yet.

...ok, that's enough for now. I'll come back later

 

[Antilogic]

The HBO miniseries John Adams is amazing. The attention to detail is superb.

If you are looking for some reading material, I highly recommend 1776 and John Adams (HBO based the miniseries specifically on this work), both by David McCoullough. He is an outstanding author, and I have loved every book he has written.

 

[AmazonQueen]

Please please not The Patriot.

I'd suggest Burr by Gore Vidal which contains interesting depictions of Washington and Jefferson. Vidal admits that they are biased but it isupposed to be Aaron Burr's account of his life, not history.

Also Tom Paine: A Political Life by John Keane, a scholarly work that manages to be interesting too.

 

[Felix Luce]

The HBO miniseries John Adams is amazing. The attention to detail is superb.

There's something about HBO historical TV series that's magical....first Rome, then John Adams: both utterly brilliant.

 

[NighthawkCP]

Its not directly about American Independence, but I have read everything I can get my hands on related to the Aubrey-Maturin series written by Patrick O'Brian. It focuses on the Age of Sail, in Europe, but does include some of the naval action in the colonies and discusses our superfrigates like Old Ironsides.

If you just want to see briefly how naval life was, rent Master & Commander. It cherrypicks stories from the different novels, so you will not have a book ruined for you by watching this, but it is a great movie that really introduced me to the 21 book series.

 

[historix69]

Thanks a lot for the numerous suggestions ...

- I know that "The Patriot" is not the best movie about Independance War but it is probably the best-known in Germany ... DVD is cheap and every few months the movie is also on TV.

- I also have the movie of "Master & Commander" ... very nice ... it reminds me of the Hornblower-novels I read as child, also Hornblower is settled more in the Napoleonic Wars.

- According to amazon, the John Adams - Miniseries (HBO) will be released in November for Germany. The books by David McCullough in general look very interesting ... too bad that most or all are not available in german language ... maybe I will start with "1776" which seems to be affordable for a first try (most of his books and also the John Adams Series are rather expensive in Germany, e.g. his books on civil war cost between 40 - 100 Euro each)

 

[C~G]

- I know that "The Patriot" is not the best movie about Independance War but it is probably the best-known in Germany ... DVD is cheap and every few months the movie is also on TV.

The Patriot dubbed in germany. Just when you thought a movie couldn't get any worse...

What a horrible horrible nightmare.

Few movies to mention for that time period (not revolution or colony life in general)...

The Mission and Aguirre: the Wrath of God comes to the mind. (The former is rather nice elegant movie with great soundtrack while the latter is true movie experience with eerie music and all. I recommend both.)

Then there's of course The New World (even though it's only watchable in big screen).

Oh and...Black Robe, 1492: Conquest of Paradise, The Crucible etc.

 

[Antilogic]

There's something about HBO historical TV series that's magical....first Rome, then John Adams: both utterly brilliant.

I've yet to watch the Rome series. Don't spoil the ending.

Speaking of the Age of Sail and boats, try Ian Toll's Six Frigates: The Epic Founding of the United States Navy (or something like that). You can probably guess the subject matter, from the Revolution to the Barbary Pirates and Tripoli to the War of 1812. Has everything from the design philosophy to the actual battles recreated from the captain's logs and such. Great read.

@historix69: Are you sure you have the right John Adams book? The one I have is a single paperback volume, although it is over 1200 pages (might be broken in two volumes for sale elsewhere). Most cost about $30 dollars in the USA.

 

[1EyedKing]

The original Colonization manual included a "Suggested reading" appendix, if I remember correctly.

You could always check that out!

 

[ChrTh]

I wrote up an Amazon.com 'Books I've Read About the American Revolution' list a couple weeks back. It mentions some of the books I've already mentioned, but it'll make it easier for anyone to find them (and other books I didn't mention).
http://www.amazon.com/gp/richpub/listmania/fullview/R1KXTLWZH78TN3/ref=cm_rna_own_lm

 

[Destructicon]

Not directly on point (as they are not about the American Revolution), but worth a read are The Conquest of New Spain by Bernal Diaz del Castillo and Adventures in the Unknow Interior of America by Cabeza de Vaca - both contemporary accounts by conquistadors (and quite different in tone).

A modern work that reads well is Conquest: Cortes, Montezume and the Fall of Old Mexico by Hugh Thomas. It's a long read but well researched.

 

[Supr49er]

Black Robe - book and movie.

 

[historix69]

I don't remeber exactly if I saw Black Robe in the movies or on TV, maybe even both ... Most of what I saw was totally new to me since I never saw such a realistic movie on the natives (Mohawks, Hurons) in the Northern America Wilderness before. It's illustrating very good how the French Strategy is supposed to be played in Col ... Unfortunately they never released it as DVD in german language, only VHS .... I'm still waiting to catch it from Digital TV one day ...

@Antilogic
German translations for David McCullough's works do not seem to exists ...
The Paperback on "John Adams" is 13.00 Euro, the DVD-Set is 45 Euro. "1776" I've seen as paperback for 12 Euro and hardcover for 40 Euro and 50 Euro. The 3 videos on American Civil War [UK-Import to Germany] summ up to 150 Euro which seems to be insane ... or 90 Euro as DVD-Set which is also insane ... that's what I meant with expensive ... I will head for the paperbacks since they promise the best information / price ratio ...

 

[Antilogic]

@Antilogic
German translations for David McCullough's works do not seem to exists ...
The Paperback on "John Adams" is 13.00 Euro, the DVD-Set is 45 Euro. "1776" I've seen as paperback for 12 Euro and hardcover for 40 Euro and 50 Euro. The 3 videos on American Civil War [UK-Import to Germany] summ up to 150 Euro which seems to be insane ... or 90 Euro as DVD-Set which is also insane ... that's what I meant with expensive ... I will head for the paperbacks since they promise the best information / price ratio ...

Ouch, those are some steep prices. I hope David McCollough's works are translated soon, though. He is a great author on US history, at least in the more "public" sphere. I'm not sure about his standing amongst those of the academic persuasion.

 

[Rusty Edge]

The Pirate Hunter tells the true story of captain William Kidd , which is complex.

It also tells about New York , a notorius pirate port at the time when it changed hands from the Dutch.


Both the Aubrey/Martin novels and the Richard Sharp series have a story about Chilean independence.


HBO's John Adams is excellent. Right man in the right place at the right time.

 

[Greybriar]

I enjoyed reading the book Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick.

Northwest Passage is an old favorite of mine by Kenneth Roberts. It was later made into a movie starring Spencer Tracy. Since it is about the French and Indian War, it is almost too late for the time frame Colonization encompasses.