The global impact of the American Revolution takes center stage in Shots Heard Round the World: America, Britain, and Europe in the Revolutionary War, a thoughtful history by John Ferling (John Adams; Winning Independence).
Popular histories of the American Revolution often mention the military participation of a few European notables, such as the Marquis de Lafayette and Baron von Steuben, and French Foreign Minister Vergennes's role in forming the Franco-American alliance, but keep their focus firmly on the 13 rebelling colonies. Not so in Ferling's examination of how a colonial rebellion became a world war--France, Spain, and the Dutch Republic were far from minor backers of a struggle limited to the North American mainland; they figure as major players in their own right. Ferling adroitly demonstrates how their interests in the Caribbean, Florida, and North America west of the British colonies turned the war into a threat to the larger British empire. These interests did not always completely align with their American allies (a Britain weakened by war could prove advantageous to Spain, but Spain was wary, as it knew the new country would expand toward its Louisiana territory).
Sometimes a little dry, but always informative, Shots Around the World presents a different, detailed angle on the American Revolution. Ferling offers an insightful examination of military commanders and civilian officials, including an uncommonly evenhanded assessment of British general John Burgoyne. Shots Heard Round the World offers a new appreciation of the judgments made and how uncertain the outcome of the war was until the very end. --Kristen Allen-Vogel, information services librarian at Dayton Metro Library