Backwards, men, to victory! This is a thoroughly readable history of how George Washington and his rag tag band of semi-soldiers finally wore down the British. Oh, the British were as we are now--huge navy, army, and hired help (Blackwater for us--Hessians for them). And except for a couple of brilliant moves (like capturing a bunch of huge canon from Ft. Ticonderoga and moving them cross country, through the mud and slime, to Boston), and one morning the British woke up and found an entire line of defenses built overnight! and huge canon in place. But that was one of the few times George got it over the Brits. Most of the time it was skirmish and retreat... run from the guns... and then, one cold Xmas eve, George had had enough. His men were bootless, cold, hungry. The British were just across the Delaware river, celebrating Xmas, and George had this wild idea...... well, damn it, we keep loosing and loosing.... so ....let's attack! Xmas.... they won't expect it. And they didn't, and, as they say, the rest is history. A fun wonderful read, and it helps humanize the apotheosis of Washington back to reality. And in case you didn't know, Washington did NOT want this commission. He hated being the head of the whole thing. He kept asking congress to relieve him of this burden, and.... they would not. Good for them and for us.