Warren's spectacularly detailed account of the American War of Independence remains an authoritative and much-read source on the subject: this edition contains all three volumes, complete with notes.
First published in 1805, when memories of the Revolutionary War were still fresh in the minds of many Americans, Mercy Otis Warren's history became a sensation for its intense detail and depth. Aiming to give a precise, blow by blow account of the War of Independence, Warren ventures through the major turning points of the conflict. She takes us from the many causes of the Revolution itself, through the principle battles, to the eventual surrender and defeat of the British, and finally the establishment of the United States of America.
Warren personally lived through the entire conflict, and was good friends with several of the men who were to become the Founding Fathers of the United States. Her connections, assertive nature and prominent place in the nascent colonial society allowed Warren to publish a number of works which were popular. Her fiction, much of it based upon the upheavals of the era, as well as her spirited critiques of the British administration, had a sizable impact on those fighting for independence.
Historians in the modern day dispute the facts behind some of Warren's accounts given her lack of neutrality: she was after all a gifted propagandist who used her talents to galvanize the revolutionary war effort. Furthermore Warren held controversial opinions; in particular, she regarded the Battle of Yorktown as an overblown event, rather than the final skirmish that gloriously concluded with the Revolution's success.
However, there can be no doubt that this chronicle is one of the most thorough accounts of the American War of Independence. Painstakingly crafted and only published when Warren was of advanced years, it remains a landmark history of the war and continues to be cited by modern scholars and historians in the present day.
When Warren's history was published in 1805, the reaction was generally one of laudatory praise. A noted exception was John Adams - who receives personal criticism in the work - who lambasted it as inaccurate and oversimple. Benjamin Franklin however greatly enjoyed the work, bought numerous copies, and appraised it as follows:
"...(my) anticipation of her truthful account of the last thirty years that will furnish a more instructive lesson to mankind than any equal period known in history."
