New Books in Military History · Marshall Poe

Jeremy Black, "The Revolutionary War" (St. Augustine's Press, 2026)

·29 min·2 clips

Jeremy Black rejects Paul Kennedy’s claim that the war was doomed to fail from the start.

1. New Books in Military History features Jeremy Black on The Revolutionary War from St. Augustine's Press. 2. Charles Cotillo hosts the conversation and introduces Jeremy Black as Professor Emeritus at Exeter University and a highly prolific historian. 3. Black says he wrote the book after his 1991 War for America and wanted to “start again and have another go.” 4. He says fresh research, lectures, reading, and irritation with other writers’ emphases pushed him back to the subject. 5. Black argues that King George III and Lord North lacked full appreciation of the 13 colonies, just as many colonists had limited knowledge of other colonies. 6. He says Edmund Burke’s conciliation idea was interesting but hard to reconcile with authority and power in the imperial setting. 7. Black rejects the idea that the Continental Army represented a revolutionary new development in warfare. 8. He compares it to earlier forces such as the Army of the Dutch Republic in the late 17th century. 9. He describes the British Army as flexible because it fought counterinsurgency, European wars, West Indies campaigns, and Indian campaigns. 10. He says George Washington was chosen because he had military experience, was a gentleman, and was a Virginian. 11. Black explains that the 1775 invasion of Canada initially succeeded at Montreal and toward Quebec but lacked local support and naval backing on the St. Lawrence. 12. He says Long Island was not a game-changer because Washington’s army escaped across the East River. 13. He adds that Long Island still enabled the British conquest of New York City and left the revolution in grave difficulty by mid-December 1776. 14. Black says Howe could have pressed harder after White Plains, but Bunker Hill encouraged caution and he was still winning. 15. He treats Trenton and Princeton as important because they “pricked the bubble of confidence” and exposed problems in an overland advance on Philadelphia. 16. He says Saratoga turned on Burgoyne’s responsibility, American use of terrain, and Burgoyne having the initiative. 17. Black argues that France and Spain’s entry forced Britain onto the defensive because both powers had larger armies and major naval reach. 18. He says Yorktown became decisive because the French blockade shaped political opinion and helped create pressure on Lord North’s ministry. 19. The interview has a direct, analytical, question-and-answer style with Cotillo repeatedly pressing Black on specific campaigns and commanders. 20. People interested in the American Revolution as military history will get the most from it, while listeners seeking only ideology or culture may skip it.

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