Scan barcode
A review by wordsmithreads
Bunker Hill: A City, a Siege, a Revolution by Nathaniel Philbrick
3.0
This book was a high school graduation gift to me because I had chosen to go to college in Boston. The summer before my freshman year, I started reading it and actually kept a notebook beside me to take notes, as if I would be tested on it.
I decided a few weeks ago, when I kept seeing the current protests compared to the Boston Tea Party and the Revolution, that it was time to actually finish this.
I love American history, specifically the Revolution. I've taken classes, traveled to landmarks -- most of the reason I went to school in Boston was that it was the seat of the Revolution.
This book was a slog.
Don't get me wrong, it's very informative. You learn a lot about a lot of different things. But that's just the issue: it tackles too much information.
If a book is called "Bunker Hill," I would expect the focus to be on the main generals and soldiers of that battle, and to spend a majority of the book focused on why this battle was so important. Instead, we are given 8+ chapters on various events leading up to Bunker Hill, a character study on Joseph Warren, and one chapter on Bunker Hill (where Joseph Warren is present only briefly, and then is shot and KIA). Then, inexplicably, two chapters after the battle, focusing on Knox and General Washington, and the taking of Boston and Dorchester Heights.
I flagged several passages that were interesting, which is why I rated at 3 and not a 2, but I would not read this again, and wouldn't recommend it to fellow history nuts.
I decided a few weeks ago, when I kept seeing the current protests compared to the Boston Tea Party and the Revolution, that it was time to actually finish this.
I love American history, specifically the Revolution. I've taken classes, traveled to landmarks -- most of the reason I went to school in Boston was that it was the seat of the Revolution.
This book was a slog.
Don't get me wrong, it's very informative. You learn a lot about a lot of different things. But that's just the issue: it tackles too much information.
If a book is called "Bunker Hill," I would expect the focus to be on the main generals and soldiers of that battle, and to spend a majority of the book focused on why this battle was so important. Instead, we are given 8+ chapters on various events leading up to Bunker Hill, a character study on Joseph Warren, and one chapter on Bunker Hill (where Joseph Warren is present only briefly, and then is shot and KIA). Then, inexplicably, two chapters after the battle, focusing on Knox and General Washington, and the taking of Boston and Dorchester Heights.
I flagged several passages that were interesting, which is why I rated at 3 and not a 2, but I would not read this again, and wouldn't recommend it to fellow history nuts.