To begin the world over again How the American Revolution devastated the globe

With academic one-upmanship, Lockwood (Univ. of Alabama) not only chronicles the moral failings of American revolutionaries and asserts the consequences of their war beyond North America, he holds them responsible for harming thousands around the world. This volume's narrative, rooted in the now-obligatory combination of social history (focusing on the "underrepresented") and choice anecdotes, is interesting enough and the research is impressive. However, readers are asked to believe that the American Revolution, which Lockwood characterizes as driven primarily by economic concerns rather than natural rights more broadly, solidified British and Russian imperial power; stifled movements for autonomy in Latin America, Asia, and Europe; and fueled the proliferation of both a criminal underclass and a budding drug trade. Though it is salutary to know what was happening concurrent with and after the Revolution, the author's thesis that the Revolution was the essential (or even accidental) cause of many events worldwide is not credible given the momentum that many of these events had apart from what was happening in Massachusetts. However provocative, Lockwood's argument relies on standards of evidence that would tempt endless and, given many scholarly temperaments, vain revisionism. Summing Up: Recommended. All readership levels. --Glenn A. Moots, Northwood University

University of Alabama history professor Lockwood (The Conquest of Death) places the Revolutionary War in truly global historical context. He judiciously integrates economic, political, social, and legal developments across multiple locations (with convincing sections on the conflict's aftermath in Russia, India, Africa, China, and the South Pacific) and focuses his exhaustive research on archives that include the underreported "voices of the poor, the struggles and triumphs of the common man and woman." This enables him to humanize an epic story; for example, the revolution's effects in Peru are conveyed through the experiences of Micaela Bastidas, who led a failed revolt against the Spanish Empire. Lockwood also makes connections that will be new even to readers knowledgeable about Revolutionary War history: for instance, readers may remember that Australia became a dumping ground for transported British convicts after the 13 colonies were no longer an option, but Lockwood argues that the number of convicts increased because of the growth of a criminal underclass caused by the war. Readers may be skeptical of Lockwood's implication that certain developments, such as South American colonies's struggles to gain independence, might not have happened without the American Revolution. Nonetheless, this is a breakthrough popular history, written with a novelist's eye for detail and atmosphere. (Oct.)