John Ferling's latest look at America's Revolution for 250th anniversary

WINNING INDEPENDENCE: The Decisive Years of the Revolutionary War, 1778-1781 (Bloomsbury; hardcover) the epic history of an under-explored period in the Revolutionary War from accomplished historian John Ferling. A master of the time period, Ferling’s narrative history illuminates the latter years of the conflict— the period between the surrender of a huge British army at Saratoga (October 1777) and the decisive Allied victory at Yorktown (October 1781)—when all seemed lost for the American cause of independence.

Much of the book considers the rival commanders, George Washington and Sir Henry Clinton – the choices that each faced and the decisions – good and bad – that each made. Washington emerged from the war with iconic status. Clinton was judged by contemporaries and a great many historians as a failure. But at the outset of 1781, Clinton was the more optimistic of the two. He thought the American rebellion was near collapse; Washington said that he had almost ceased to believe that victory was possible.

In 1778, the American victory at Saratoga had netted the U.S a powerful ally in France. Many, including General George Washington, presumed France’s entrance into the war meant independence was just around the corner. Meanwhile, having lost an entire army at Saratoga, Great Britain pivoted to a “southern strategy.” The army would henceforth seek to regain its southern colonies, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, a highly profitable segment of its pre-war American empire. Deep into 1780 Britain’s new approach seemed headed for success as the U.S. economy collapsed and morale on the home front waned. By early 1781, Washington, and others, feared that France would drop out of the war if the Allies failed to score a decisive victory that year.

WINNING INDEPENDENCE is the dramatic story of how and why Great Britain—so close to regaining several southern colonies and rendering the postwar United States a fatally weak nation ultimately failed to win the war. The book explores the choices and decisions made by Clinton and Washington, and others, that ultimately led the French and American allies to clinch the pivotal victory at Yorktown that at long last secured American independence.

Highly praised for his “Masterful” writing of “History written with the gravitation pull of a good novel,” (Dan Rather) Ferling brings to life the account of how American forces, on the brink of defeat, were able to turn the tide and win the war. Ferling says, “this is a book about choices made and not made, roads and risks taken or not, plans good and bad that were made and sometimes attempted, sometimes never ventured. It is about grievous mistakes, incredible heroism, and spectacular gambles. It is about the gruesome horrors of war. It is about shrinking from daring and acting with incredible audacity. It is about victory and defeat—and the thin line that often separated one from the other.”

JOHN FERLING is professor emeritus of history at the University of West Georgia. He is the author of many books on the American Revolution, including The Ascent of George Washington; Almost a Miracle; A Leap in the Dark; Whirlwind, a finalist for the 2015 Kirkus Book Prize; and, most recently, Apostles of Revolution: Jefferson, Paine, Monroe, and the Struggle Against the Old Order in America and Europe. He and his wife, Carol, live near Atlanta.