In honor of Independence Day, I thought I’d pull a list of vintage bestsellers about the War for Independence. I was surprised at how few novels were written about the American Revolution and even more surprised by how unmemorable those few are. In nearly every case, the historical information is more interesting than the invented plot and characters.
Here’s a short list of some long novels about the American War for Independence with links to reviews on this site.
Oliver Wiswell by Kenneth Roberts (1940) is a story of the Revolution told from the perspective of an English loyalist, and the best of the five novels.
The Tree of Liberty by Elizabeth Page (1939) is a slow-moving story of the political in-fighting among the colonists attempting to free themselves from the rule of the Crown.
Drums Along the Mohawk by Walter D. Edmonds (1937) is a tale of pioneers in upstate New York who spent most of the Revolution fighting off Indian raids and waiting for Congress to pay them the money it owed them.
Stars on the Sea by F. Van Wyck Mason (1940) is a fictional account of how America got her Navy.
Alice of Old Vincennes by Maurice Thompson (1901) is the story of a pro-colonist pioneer lass at Fort Vincennes, which changed hands several times during the Revolution.
Photo credit: “Stars” uploaded by Patwise http://www.sxc.hu/photo/581534
