[inaudible conversations] good evening everybody i am broadly the coowner along with my wife. In behalf of everybody here welcome, thank you free much for coming. It has been six years since the publication in a volume of the deliberation a trilogy. I wrote it that way earlier today and said i will not make that mistake again. His liberation about the l. A. Tramps and europe during world war ii, six years turned his attention away from the great work of the 20th century and started focusing on the great work of the 18th century that gave birth to this country. For those of you who have been wondering whether rick could do it again, whether he could bring the Extensive Research team attention to detail, narrative elegance to another green conflict, the evidence is now in, and yes indeed he has done it again. The british are coming which is volume one of what rick is calling the revolution a trilogy was released today. It is another magnificent history. Weaving together the perspectives of many characters of high lot along with meaningful assessments of the action. This initial volume recounts a 21 months of americans were independence starting in the spring of 1775 with the battles of lexington and concorde and through the complex of princeton into early 1777. As the son of the u. S. Army officer rick grew up a military post and after graduating from university and becoming a journalist, he was hardly surprising that his reporting first for a couple of kansas papers and then over 25 years for the Washington Post often took a back to the u. S. Armed forces. Eventually those stories built into books including the long green line and the last point class of 1966, crusade the history of the persian gulf war in the company of soldiers in the ricks two month during the invasion of iraq in 2003. The world war ii trilogy was clearly the most vicious and established him as one of the most talented and popular historians. His second individual, he won for National Reporting with the kansas city times, and his third poet, if you got the one in 1999 for Public Service for series edited by rick on shootings by the d. C. Police department. Volume two, the day of battle was the best seller in volume three, the butte at number one on the New York Times bestseller list the longtime editor John Sterling said in the wake of such success, another writer wouldve dubbed himself mr. World war ii and spent the rest of his career furnishing that brand. But not rick. He decided to take on an entirely different work, yes my tenderly been written about the American Revolution but no one had done a start to finish battle history or sometime in the Actual Experience of the work had been made real to readers for many, many years until now. Rick and i have known each other for 30 years, since our days together at the Washington Post, although he has spent much of his working life with wars and warriors, he has never seen the tire of the subject. I remember a moment hearing it when he had just returned from a month in england. He had been granted access in Windsor Castle where the papers of george the third reside. The vast majority of member published in only recently opened scholars. Rick was so excited to have gone to read them for insight into why the british monarch against his own subject for eight years across 3000 miles of ocean. And you will see, he starts this book with georgia third and this is the real king george, not the hamilton version. We have a particularly soft spot for rick. Hes a regular and in fact in 2012 authored a lovely brief history for collection of profiles in my bookstore. If you have not read it i urge you to bring now we expected a few people this evening would show up and you will have, and we couldve hosted rick in a larger venue but i know he prefers speaking in the store which has a special significance to him. Please join me in welcoming ri rick. [applause] well thank you for that brad. When i brag about our town, one of the things and proudest of is a live only a mile from politics and prose. This is the seventh consecutive time dating back 30 years to 1989 that a marked publication day of the new book by appearing here at my neighborhood bookstore. Each time has been an honor and im grateful to you for you and your team for letting me come back and am grateful for you neighbors for your encouragement over the years. The last time i was here as you mentioned six years ago was may 14, 2013 when we rolled out the guns, the final volume of a trilogy on the liberation of europe. A project that take me 15 years. In 2013 i was pondering what to do next and they said the obvious thing would be the pacific and try to do for the Pacific Campaign what i did for the mediterranean and western european campaigns. That wouldve required to start the war over again. [laughter] at pearl harbor or even earlier, i cannot shake the personal fascination since i had since i was a kid. Im now completed in a trilogy, in june 1773, and he takes to south coast of england where there was a fourday review of the national and world navy, its a national holiday, its ten years after the creation of the british in prayer the phrase, the sun never sets with quaint in 1773. This book goes through the two battles of trenton and princeton in early 1777 in american hopes which seems extinguished at that point. Let me concede that theres for american independence. Starting the search to all men are created equal, nor was it valid for immediate americans, women or immigrants. For the eight years duration of the market revolution, those who remain loyal and even stragglers were not completely committed to the idea of armed interaction, often were subjected at dreadful treatments. Public shaming, disenfranchisement compensation, beatings, torture, et cetera, somewhere in prison on hudson river scouts, anchor below an old connecticut coppermine where they were lowered 70 feet below ground into rockwall cells known as hell. John adams later admitted, i would hang my own brother had he taken part with their enemy in the contest. Infirmity, censorship, zealotry, forced into defensive war for liberty and secure basic rights, they improperly invaded canada an attempt to win force of arms which cannot be won by negotiation in them linda schmidt. A 14th colony. This is the first for hardly the last of another land on the pretext of bettering life of the invaded. The enduring image of a farmer leaving his plow to grab a musket on behalf of freedom is mostly mythical, during the revolution general George Washington rarely had more than 20000 soldiers and sometimes as few as 3000 in a country of two and half million. Particularly after the initial partial enthusiasm throughout lexington, invaded in 1775 relatively few american men volunteered for military service especially if it involved listing for the duration for the badly fed, clothed and badly led continental army. And yet, who would deny the creation story of our founding remain valid, vivid and thrilling. Even in 2019, at a moment for National Immunity is elusive and a rinkers seem ever more toxic in the simple concept of truth is disputed, that story seems that creation story informs who we are where we came from and what they believed in perhaps the most profound question any people can ask themselves, what theyre willing to die for. Indeed at least 25000 americans died for that because in perhaps many more. So what can we learn. From the ancient coral, that the nation was board bickering, it is international genome, second their own foundational truths that are not only true but also as a declaration of independence says selfevident. Third, leaders worthy of our enduring admiration rise to the occasion of grit, wisdom, grace and forth, whatever trails santos today we have overcome greater perils before. We are the beneficiaries of an enlightened political heritage headed down from the revolutionary after many subsequent struggles, it includes tricksters on how to divide power in from the hands who think primarily them cells. We cannot let letting heritage slip away. We cannot permit it to be taken away. We cannot be oblivious to this Priceless Gift or the hundreds of thousands who have given their lives over the last few hundred 40 years to affirm and sustain it. Now the american resolution was not a war between regimes or dynasties, fought for territory or the usual commercial advantages, but an improvised struggle between a common heritage which are been gradually standard by divergent values and conflicting visions over the world to come. The americans, one by embracing fewer strategic conceptions than the british did. Certainly the rebels, us could be wrongheaded. And greater economic leverage over the country than they did for example or character train king george the third who sat on his throne for 60 years and was more complex than the overbearing who dominates our imagination and emmons is across the stage in hamilton. George and his ministers made three critical miscalculations. One that most colonists remain loyal to the crown notwithstanding troublemakers capable of inciting arrival. Two, the firmness including military firepower is necessary and would intimidate and restore harmony. And three, failure to reassert londons authority would eventually unstick the newly created British Empire encouraging insurrections in ireland, canada, sugar islands and caribbean, india its an 18th century version of the domino theory that would propel america into vietnam two centuries later. Britain also underestimated the difficulty of waging war across 3000 miles of open ocean in the age of sale. For eight years as it turned out. Expeditionary warfare wasnt waged in 18th century and is among the most difficult martial thieves. The british army in the revolution are unable to gather food and forge from the american countryside without being ambushed relied largely on provision ship from english and irish ports. Dispatched across the atlantic in the winter of 1775, 76 only eight reached the kings forces indirectly. The rest were blown back to britain or to the west indies were intercepted by rebel remodelers. Of 550 lincolnshire sheep aboard ships that made it to boston with the fittest to undergo 40 of the 550 arrived alive. Of 290, 274 arrived alive. When the british move to new york in the summer of 1776 and requested 990 horses to pull the artillery and supply wagons, 412 of the 950 horses died at sea during the voyage. Scores more were ruined beyond use. Similar difficulty leg the british for years. The district is always hard and were, i personally seen just a hard and somalia, bosnia, iraq, afghanistan and elsewhere. Even with the american rebels are fighting on their home turf, they faced enormous difficulties of 75 official letters to general washington wrote in january and february, 1776 have mentioned munitions shortages often pleading fretful terms especially gum powder which washington called the thing. Its difficult to make musket balls without lead. By the summer of 1776, the americans were desperately short of the stuff. In new york where the 100 tons of lead were collected from fishing nets, cloths, windows, to make bullets. Along with lead of downspouts and window glass canes and pewter dishes. Without salt, armies and navies could not stockpile the meat and fish needed to move anywhere, 2 bushels of salt, more than 10e 1000 pounds of pork. Beef required even more. Before the war american imported 50 million bushels annually half from the west indies and half from britain and southern europe. The British Trade strangled two thirds of those imports. Profiteers in hoarders drove up the price of 2 bushels to 14 by late summer 1776 and 75 a year later to encourage saltworks along the coast, pamphlets were printed with recipes in congress authorized hansen bounty for every bushel produce. John adams wrote, all the old women and children were going down to the jersey shore to make salt. 400 gallons of seawater was needed to boil off a bushel of salt which required stacks of forward. Its pretty hard. Virginia spent more than 6000 pounds to build evaporation along the chesapeake but collected only 50 bushels probably the most expensive salt in the world. Those problems substantial as it were, hardly matched britains problems. The thousand tons of bread required each month to feed british shoulders in new york often arrived boldly and infested with irish rats. Soon infested in staten island. For the winter of 1776 and 1777, then 16000 cords of firewood. 70 tons of candles, the daily allowance of a jill of rome, that is 5 ounces, thats about a gallon a month. It took an enormous amount of shipping space. The British Navy Board needed 400 transport and ships to move the supply in july. It was triple the tonnage at the peak of the war. Lets talk for a moment about george, our last king. He is an intriguing adversary. Queen elizabeth the second as brad mentioned opened up to outside scrutiny that george and papers which she owned, as part of a project to catalog and digitize from offer georges who became king in the 19th century. There were 350,000 pages, most from the rain of george the third period most previously unpublished. I was allowed to take a look for april 2016, the month the queen turned 90. At Windsor Castle where the papers are store. Every morning i would show my badge and then climb 100 into steps and stairs to the round tower in their other papers. A gorgeous oversized red binders. Georges own secretary when he began to go blind. He wrote not only most of his own correspondence, he made the copies and as you pull through these pages you dont need to wear gloves, they are very nice about it. Theres a tactical sense of being in his presence. Among other things hes a great list maker. List of british garrisons abroad between 1764 and 1785. The broil navy vessels under construction and various shipyards. If all the regiments in america the number of officers, musicians and rankandfile troops each tabulated with his arithmetic scratching in the margins. George copied out his own recipes for cough syrup. Write this down, rosemary, rice, vinegar, brown sugar boiled in silver. He was a theatergoers. He kept critical notes under dramatic actors. Had a formal gravity on his knee and appear senile. He married and obscured german princes charlotte, who is in charlotte, North Carolina who learned to play god save the king during the voyage to england from germany. They married six hours after they met, he had the marriage bedroom decorated with 700 yards and large pieces of goldfish strategically placed around the bedroom. The happy union proved fertile, she produced children as lunar regularity. [laughter] eventually to number 15 and we see in his personal correspondence that george is a caring father, invested in the rearing of his kids. Through all of this he is trying to figure out the proper course for the British Empire for the monarchy and for his people. He is easy enough to dislike but impossible i find to just test or dismiss as a reactionary autocrat. The war he chooses to wage is brutal, bloodied and often savage unlike modern war killing in 18th century is usually intimate, usually facetoface, and often with a bayonet. That is partly because 18th century muskets were mostly inaccurate beyond 50 yards and almost hopeless beyond 100 yards. Scholars have calculated within the fights lexington concord and the british retreat to boston on the first day of the war april lippard 70000 rounds but only one bullet in 300 actually hit a red coat. The shot heard around the world probably missed. [laughter] battlefield admitted it to commands weight and bullets to kill him in the 18th century and never knew sherry were combat that that was not far wrong. On the other hand, mask musket fire, clusters of men firing in volleys sent swarms of oneout slugs flying downrange at perhaps 1000 feet a second and that could be devastating. A man 5 feet, 8 inches to hide an exterior surface of 200550 square inches of which 1000 were exposed to gunfire when he was facing an enemy at close range. And given the inadequacy, the imprudent inadequacy, if youre hitting the torso you have more than 50 chance of dying. By the way later studies by the british army demonstrated that soldiers were inconspicuous red uniform were twice as likely to be shot in combat as those in blues and grays. American marksmen, especially those few with rifles which were more accurate than muskets learned to target the brightest of the redcoats, those that were almost 1 million in queue because theyre usually worn by officers who could afford the more expensive dies that made the coat pop. In the battle of bunker hill, june 17, 1775 the british captured roughly square mile of territory at a cost of over 1000 casualties including 226 british dead. It was a massacre. Those are some of the nuts and bolts of 18th century worker, what are the emotional guts of the revolution . That is what still moves us, makes us feel the men and women of more than one doesnt generations ago have something to say to us. Why is that . Certainly not revolutionary generation can seem so distant as to be almost foreign people. If the irony of skepticism of the twin lenses o. They are far less ironic and skeptical in the worldview than the 21st century descendent. They speak english but have their own argo in their own slang. For example counterfeit money widely practiced in the 18th century, was known as shoving the queer. Someone who died to kevin by the way, british soldiers in boston sometimes referred to americans as jonathans. But those are minor differences, we admire those americans for their endurance, sacrifice, not only displayed by men serving in the ranks but others swept up in the events of those times. Lois peters, of connecticut had not seen her husband captain Nathan Peters in months when she wrote him, please come home as soon as possible, a visit from you anytime would be agreeable and meanwhile she harvest the corn, sell their hawks and to try to keep the family resolve it. So the short and take great pleasure knowing them. And take faith with the future. And your loving wife until that. Nathaniel green, one of the great figures and a milliken history, he makes one of the worst operational decisions of the war by leaving 3000 american soldiers exposed and formable at Fort Washington. We are in the space of eight hours, those 3000 are trapped and killed and captured. This is often characterized by miscalculation, misfortune, imprudent and efficient military skills.