Independence Lost is a history of the American Revolution told from the perspective of people living just outside of the thirteen rebelling colonies, on the Gulf Coast. Florida was a non-rebellious British colony; the Spanish has recently taken Louisiana from the French, and various Indian Nations were trying to maintain good relations with the various empires that surrounded them. How would the rebellion affect the livelihoods of all these constituencies?
This unique perspective provides an enlightening contrast to traditional accounts of the war. For one thing, it reminds us that the revolution was part of a wider war between the European powers: Spain took advantage of Britain's distraction to win back parts of its empire. It also shows how unlikely American success was, even after the war was over.
On the downside, however, DuVal's writing style often sounds like a high-school textbook. Lots of sociological generalization ("Men and women depended on a web of economic, social, and political connections that provided stability and opportunity even as they limited complete freedom of action") and fact clusters that sound like the answers to questions on the weekly quiz ("Behind Galvez's back, Pollock urged Congress to use Willing's brief 1778 seizures of Natchez and Manchac and Captain Pickles's success on the lakes to claim ownership of what Spanish troops had just taken...").
This unique perspective provides an enlightening contrast to traditional accounts of the war. For one thing, it reminds us that the revolution was part of a wider war between the European powers: Spain took advantage of Britain's distraction to win back parts of its empire. It also shows how unlikely American success was, even after the war was over.
On the downside, however, DuVal's writing style often sounds like a high-school textbook. Lots of sociological generalization ("Men and women depended on a web of economic, social, and political connections that provided stability and opportunity even as they limited complete freedom of action") and fact clusters that sound like the answers to questions on the weekly quiz ("Behind Galvez's back, Pollock urged Congress to use Willing's brief 1778 seizures of Natchez and Manchac and Captain Pickles's success on the lakes to claim ownership of what Spanish troops had just taken...").
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