The History Channel Presents The Revolution (2006) Review

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(More customer reviews)A great examination of the American Revolutionary War by the History Channel. Includes interviews with historians, battlefield maps and examinations of troop movements, letters from the battlefields, and actor portrayals of battles and historical figures.
The Revolution starts out with the examinations of the cause of the revolution, such as colonial resentment of taxes levied after the Seven Years' War without any representation. It follows this through the forging of the Declaration of Independence and the battles of the Revolutionary War. It finishes up with the problems facing the nation after the war.
I don't think I had a good enough realization in school with how hard times were for these soldiers as they waged war. This video goes into detail with the troubled supply lines that plagued Washington's army, the heavy desertion and mutiny (which Washington clamped down on with some extraordinary tactics), and the many failed battles that occured in the first few years of the Revolutionary War. It covers internal conflicts between such characters as Horatio Gates and George Washington.
Also discussed are Benjamin Franklin's efforts in France to recruit the French navy and John Paul Jone's foray into Britain and Ireland.
The first half of the series covers the battles in the north and the remaining few episodes discuss how the battles move south into Savannah, the back woods of the Carolinas, and finally Yorktown.
One problem with the series is that they tend to recycle the interviews and footage throughout.
US history books tend to lionize the founding fathers, but this series (and books such as the Founding Brothers) show how none of these people was perfect, and shows their faults as well as their strengths. I came away with this series (which I downloaded from iTunes, BTW) with a much better understanding of the Revolutionary War.

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