I read this because my son was required to read it at West Point, and I wondered why. Having never studied the events of these pivotal weeks in 1776-7, I was fascinated by how these events changed the course of the revolution and impacted our entire political system and the principles on which it was formed. My admiration for Washington and the men who persevered and fought through that terrible winter--against all odds--was greatly increased. Fischer explores differing definitions of freedom, how Washington's ideals and principles were formed, dramatically different approaches to and motives for war, and the lasting impacts these weeks have had in our political and military history. Fischer's treatment of the various actors is fair and yet unapologetic--he is a true American historian.

This isn't an easy read because of the military detail he presents (I was astounded at how well-documented these events are--even to include so many quotes and reflections), but if you skim through the lists of participants in each engagement it will be more enjoyable and well worth the investment. The book is also much shorter than it appears because the appendices (worth looking at) and bibliography are massive.

Really enjoyed this book and everytime I read another account of something that George Washington did during the revolutionary war, I am more impressed each time.

First, the history of the famous painting is fascinating.

But then, when Washington is about ready to admit that the war is over, he decides to execute this daring attack on Christmas. He just got his ass kicked in NYC and has been running away from the British/Hessians since the battle. When he took command at the beginning of the war in Boston, he had anywhere between 11,000 and 16,000 soldiers. By the time he got across the Delaware River in December 1776, he is down to just 3,000 soldiers ; the rest are killed, wounded, on other missions or their enlistments were up. The British are chasing him with 10,000 troops.

But the British are not trying to annihilate the army. They want to subdue them and bring them back into the fold. They believe they are going to win, but they are not executing with vigor and by December 1776, they are ready to stop fighting for the Winter.

Washington crosses the Delaware on Christmas night, gets lucky and catches the Hessians in Trenton and kills or captures about 1,000 troops.

The next night, Washington defends at Trenton by occupying good ground and delaying the reinforcing troops from Princeton. The British try three times to cross a bridge and get pushed back every time. Both sides fall back to recover. Washington knows that the British will reinforce and try again the next day, so he sneaks out in the middle of the night and heads towards Princeton and surprises the British in their rear area.

These three victories turn the war around.

Fascinating ....

Most unusually for a modern history book, this book shows respect, sympathy, and admiration for Washington, his army, the Founders in general, and their cause, and not a little for the British and the Hessians also. "Too many writers have told us that 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 we are."

Washington managed to drive the British out of Boston in March of 1776, but in July the British reappeared in great force at New York, bringing with them Hessian mercenaries. In a series of disasters Washington was driven out of the city, across New Jersey, and into Pennsylvania, ending with a ragged and defeated army of fewer than 3,000. But the British General Howe foolishly refrained from harrowing and destroying the army--instead he let it escape across the Delaware, then dispersed his forces in small detachments in an attempt to pacify New Jersey. The detachments had to support themselves by plundering the countryside, earning the hatred of the people. Then Washington saw his opportunity to recross the Delaware on Christmas night with most of his army. By chance it occurred in a raging winter storm, which made the crossing harrowing and difficult, but also covered the Americans' approach and allowed them to surprise and capture most of three Hessian regiments at Trenton. After returning to Pennsylvania with his prisoners, Washington asked his soldiers whose enlistments expired at the end of the year to stay on for two more months. They mostly did, in an extraordinary show of self-sacrifice for the cause. Washington and crossed the Delaware again and occupied Trenton. The British came storming down from their headquarters at Brunswick, determined to trap and destroy the American army this time, but Washington took a very strong defensive position behind a river and drove off all attacks. That night, knowing the British had brought up more strength than he could resist for another day, he disappeared from the British front, marched around their left flank, and appeared in their rear at Princeton, defeating their rear guard and capturing many of their stores. This maneuver won the admiration of all of Europe and inspired all Americans. Then Washington marched away to winter quarters in the hills of Morristown. For the rest of the winter, the very active and resourceful New Jersey militia continued to harass and annoy the British occupiers, forcing them to withdraw and concentrate around Brunswick (now New Brunswick, NJ).

No two ways about it, this is a story of great resolve and heroism, fortified by adherence to a noble cause. Fischer does not slight the contribution of chance, of ideas, or of individual decision (wise and foolish) in the result. The outcome was far from a sure thing.

I would recommend this book to someone interested in military strategies, weapons, supplies, training, battles etc. Essentially, all things military. If that’s what you like to read about, then I would give it a 5. It’s well researched and provides lots of details.

However, I am not so much interested in that stuff and found it boring and hawed to get through. I read another book about Washington as a person and leader. I enjoyed that one immensely more.

I like learning about people and how they think and why they do what they do. There was very little of that in this book. It was much more technical.

Overall, he did a great job of showing how the British army was much better trained, better supplied and should have easily won the war. However, the revolutionists were way more motivated and familiar with the terrain. Washington was also a great leader. He counseled with his generals. Whereas the British head didn’t listen to his generals and just told them what to do.

I was severely unimpressed by this one. I noticed several errors throughout the book including incorrect listed ages and ranks for various figures, which makes me wonder what other mistakes might have been in the book that I didn't catch.

I was also displeased by the style of the book. It was at times pedantic with a slightly condescending air, but chapter conclusions often read like a sophomoric essay in which the author felt the need to hammer home an obvious thesis point. And good god, the conclusion of the book was the worst of all. It felt like Fischer let a high school student do the writing: it reiterated obvious points from the book without adding anything new or of interest.

The scope of the book was also poorly chosen- Fischer's stated goal was to cover the highlights of the crossing of the Delaware and the related battles of Trenton and Princeton, but he did not narrow his focus properly. He tried to cover far too much information for a spotlight book, but didn't have enough substance for a more general history.

I almost gave up on this one because of the flaws, but I wound up grudge reading the whole thing because I was irritated at the time I'd already wasted and wanted to be able to properly skewer it. And yet, I wound up giving it two stars instead of one, largely because I found the appendix somewhat interesting. I don't, however, understand how this possibly could have won the Pulitzer Prize for history(?!?!) or why it has so many positive reviews.

Audible Plus 18 hous 9 min. Narrated by Nelson Runger (B)

Pulitzer Prize for history 2005
I learned more about Washington's development as a leader from this book than I did from the WASHINGTON: A LIFE by Ron Chernow. I am glad I read other reviews that encouraged me to try this book. Compelling writing.
Question for those who have read the hard copy.
There is a very interesting discussion between David Hackett Fischer and the audio book narrator Nelson Runger that lasts 28 minutes. They delve into surprises that Fischer met in his research for the book. Is this bonus material only available in the audio version?

Okay okay I know what you are thinking: Christiana has clearly lost her perspective on book reviews, given that she is awarding yet another book on the Revolutionary War 5 stars.

Hear me out!

THIS one was probably the Best of the lot. I have no idea about military science and what it takes to launch a successful campaign, and while I Still could not do that, I DO have a better understanding of it.

What makes this book so compelling is that the author (or better, original participants in this War wrote their thoughts down) found quotes, snippets from letters from All Sides of the war. The Americans (broken down by colony which at one time seem to be very different), the British, and the Hessians.

It also really focuses on the months that changed the tide of the war and goes into detail why really the colonists should not have been able to win. Talk about being outnumbered, outgunned and outplanned.

Through. Detailed. Stirring. Loved the very last of the afterword. This was SUCH a good pick to read in the weeks spanning Independence Day.

When I was in 3rd grade, and we learned that Hopewell, NJ was considered a possible location for the capitol of the US (hence one of the streets being named Federal City Road), I decided I would do some research to determine whether my birth city (Concord) or my sister's birth city (Trenton) had more Revolutionary War history. I never made it to Trenton, so sure I was that Concord was more historic, but years of running in Washington Crossing State Park and walking around Princeton, NJ, made my stomach slowly churn with the revelation that I may have counted Trenton out too soon.

Reading this book, my stomach fully ate itself, and I was forced to admit that Concord doesn't stand a chance compared to the monumental battles of Trenton and Princeton. Perhaps it's because I'm now missing a stomach, but I feel like this is the best history book I've ever read. Does it have some good ol' American bias? Certainly. Does it occasionally have rather forced analogies? You bet (my favorite: "it had as much drama as an Italian opera"). But does it give incredibly insightful insight into all the competing and interacting forces at the center of the American Revolution? Huzzah it does!

Also. I'll end with one applicable quote. From who else but TP. "If tensor analysis is good enough for turbulence, it ought to be good enough for history. There ought to be nodes, critical points...there ought to be super derivatives of the crowded and instantaneous flow that can be set equal to zero and these critical points found." - Thomas Pynchon

"Washington's Crossing" tells the celebrated Revolutionary War history of Washington crossing the Delaware River at Christmas, 1776, to attack the Hessian and British troops in Trenton. Fischer corrects several inaccuracies in his telling, the foremost of which is that Washington's success is due to the Hessian/British soldiers sleeping soundly after drunken celebrations. In fact, the invading troops were very alert, with posted patrols and soldiers at the ready, with most of the others sleeping in their full battle attire. Fischer traces Washington's success to a good bit of luck, but primarily to good planning, daring to take the initiative, and having the ability to instill a fighting spirit in an Continental army that had suffered a string of defeats. After Trenton, Washington pushed his advantage to attack Princeton, convincing many British officers that the revolution was likely to succeed, or that it would take superhuman effort to put it down. Fischer's recounting of the story dives deeply into troop movements, not usually my favorite part of a war history, but he makes most of it interesting enough to read. The crossing of the Delaware River was truly the turning point of the American Revolution, though it would take several more years to bring things to a close.

Washington's Crossing details the Winter Campaign of 1776-77 and it’s significance. It sets the stage, first with Washington’s assuming command of the Continental Army, then with its disastrous, nearly fatal defeat in New York, and its desperate retreat. Barely managing to keep his army intact in winter quarters, and fearing a killing blow from the British at any time, Washington conceived the campaign in an attempt to keep his army from dissolving. After achieving the improbable crossing of the Delaware, Washington and his troops found success in the Battles of Trenton and Princeton, then commenced a forage war, skirmishes that rage through the end of the winter.

This winter campaign with its small victories is sometimes remembered as more symbolic than strategic. (It was particularly useful in Tom Paine’s propaganda, The Crisis.) The author argues that it had an outsized, major impact on the war, both by destroying the Howe brother's strategy of ending the Revolution through conciliation, and through reviving the spirits of the Americans to fight on.

Fischer examines the make up of the Colonial army, with its wide sectional and cultural differences, and examines the daunting task Washington had in forging it into an effective fighting force capable of fighting the world's most professional and successful army. He goes into some detail describing the make up and culture of the British army and the Hessian forces that the Americans faced, giving a context to the challenge.

Washington emerges from these pages as a genius simply for being able to adapt to the situation at hand and create and lead what became the Continental Army.
Fischer is vividly descriptive in his portraits of Washington and his officers, the Howe brothers and their principle officers, and the commanders of the Hessian forces. In addition, he provides the perspectives of common soldiers from all the armies, private citizens, members of the Continental Congress, and Tom Paine, the Revolution's propagandist who was pivotal in the success of the winter campaign.

Washington's Crossing is rich in illustrations and contains adequate and readable maps. It has copious notes, an excellent bibliography, and several fascinating and useful appendices that add many additional layers of information to the text.

This book is simply one of the best, well-written, and fascinating books that I have read on the American Revolution. It has my highest recommendation.

Continuing my punctuated voyage down the road of Pulitzer-winning books, this one from Fischer published in 2004 was really good. Fischer does a great job explaining the dire situation of the Continental Army as they were obliged to leave New York and flee towards New Jersey. At one point, there was a real threat that the capital of the colonies, Philadelphia, would be taken as well. Without going too far down the road of sentimental nationalism too often, Fischer describes the courage of the "rabble" that Washington was able to form into a coherent fighting group and the against-all-odds victories at Trenton and Prince Town (now, Princeton). The descriptions of the actors in this historical drama are all quite interesting. I am reading 1776 by McCullough at the moment to see how he describes these same individuals and situations and found it wanting compared to this book by Fischer. It strikes me that it would be fascinating to read a version of this year from the English point of view...

My impression of George Washington is that among his most important qualities, he was confident enough in the men around him, even those that he did not like such as Lee, that he was able to learn from his mistakes and to listen to sage advice without feeling his ego over-shadowed. This is a rare quality even now in a leader, 250 years later. In Joseph Ellis' 2004 biography, His Excellency: George Washington (published the same year as this book coincidentally), we learn more about his life and the fact that, particularly after Newark, he could have easily become a dictator in the style of a Trujillo or a Stalin with absolutely no one able to oppose him. We as a Nation are so lucky that he took his model more from Cinninaticus than from Julius Caesar (or Nero for that matter). He was truly, despite his flaws, an exception leader and exactly the right person the US needed during that period.

Highly recommended for the way he reconstructs the battles and also the incredibly dense appendices where he gathers all the data on military strength and losses on both sides from the many fragmentary sources as well as a historical analysis on how the famous image of Washington Crossing the Delaware River has been perceived during history (worthy probably of its own standalone novel actually).