The Howe Dynasty: The Untold Story of a Military Family and the Women Behind Britain's Wars for America

by Julie Flavell Narrated by Polly Lee

Overview

Finalist ¿ George Washington Book Prize

New York Times Book Review ¿ Editors' Choice



Finally revealing the family's indefatigable women among its legendary military figures, The Howe Dynasty recasts the British side of the American Revolution.

In December 1774, Benjamin Franklin met Caroline Howe, the sister of British General Sir William Howe and Richard Admiral Lord Howe, in a London drawing room for “half a dozen Games of Chess.” But as historian Julie Flavell reveals, these meetings were about much more than board games: they were cover for a last-ditch attempt to forestall the outbreak of the American War of Independence.

Aware that the distinguished Howe family, both the men and the women, have been known solely for the military exploits of the brothers, Flavell investigated the letters of Caroline Howe, which have been blatantly overlooked since the nineteenth century. Using revelatory documents and this correspondence, The Howe Dynasty provides a groundbreaking reinterpretation of one of England's most famous military families across four wars.

Contemporaries considered the Howes impenetrable and intensely private-or, as Horace Walpole called them, “brave and silent.” Flavell traces their roots to modest beginnings at Langar Hall in rural Nottinghamshire and highlights the Georgian phenomenon of the politically involved aristocratic woman. In fact, the early careers of the brothers-George, Richard, and William-can be credited not to the maneuverings of their father, Scrope Lord Howe, but to those of their aunt, the savvy Mary Herbert Countess Pembroke. When eldest sister Caroline came of age during the reign of King George III, she too used her intimacy with the royal inner circle to promote her brothers, moving smoothly between a straitlaced court and an increasingly scandalous London high life.

With genuine suspense, Flavell skillfully recounts the most notable episodes of the brothers' military campaigns: how Richard, commanding the HMS Dunkirk in 1755, fired the first shot signaling the beginning of the Seven Years' War at sea; how George won the devotion of the American fighters he commanded at Fort Ticonderoga just three years later; and how youngest brother General William Howe, his sympathies torn, nonetheless commanded his troops to a bitter Pyrrhic victory in the Battle of Bunker Hill, only to be vilified for his failure as British commander-in-chief to subdue Washington's Continental Army.

Britain's desperate battles to guard its most vaunted colonial possession are here told in tandem with London parlor-room intrigues, where Caroline bravely fought to protect the Howe reputation in a gossipy aristocratic milieu. A riveting narrative and long overdue reassessment of the entire family, The Howe Dynasty forces us to reimagine the Revolutionary War in ways that would have been previously inconceivable.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

★ 05/03/2021

In this brilliantly conceived and vividly written biography, historian Flavell (When London Was Capital of America) takes a fresh look at the family of Richard Admiral Lord Howe and Gen. William Howe, the brothers who commanded British forces in North America at the start of the Revolutionary War. Analyzing letters and diaries left behind by the women of the family, Flavell upends the popular conception of the aristocratic Howes as “inscrutable” and sheds light on the drawing-room politics of Georgian England. She details how Richard and William’s mother and aunt drew on connections to the royal court to help advance their military careers, and notes that their eldest sister, Caroline, assisted in Richard’s efforts to negotiate a peaceful compromise with Benjamin Franklin as tensions between England and the colonies mounted in 1774. After war broke out, the failure of British forces to rout the rebels led to allegations that the Howes were guilty of “treason or incompetence,” and Richard and William both gave up their commands in 1778. Flavell skillfully alternates vivid descriptions of overseas battles with developments in England, and brings new insights to William’s alleged affair with the “captivating Bostonian” Elizabeth Lloyd Loring. History buffs won’t want to miss this richly textured account. Illus. Agent: Katherine Flynn, Kneerim & Williams. (July)

Wall Street Journal - Stephen Brumwell

"A richly detailed and lively saga of one of its most distinguished families. Challenging and insightful, it reflects impressive scholarship, grounded in exhaustive archival research on both sides of the Atlantic.... The Howe Dynasty shows how women whose supreme function in life was to produce male heirs could nonetheless find a voice through informal “networking,” establishing crucial contacts in the drawing room or on the hunting field that could be mobilized to secure favors and control opinion."

Christian Science Monitor - Barbara Spindel

"Vivid and compelling. . . . Combining military analysis with an effective use of heretofore ignored sources, she brings together the domestic sphere and the military sphere to form an original and more complete picture of a fascinating family."

Rick Atkinson

"The Howe story is more compelling than the stupid redcoats caricature that has persisted for more than two centuries, as Julie Flavell demonstrates in 'The Howe Dynasty,' her vibrant biography of the accomplished, beguiling family. . . . The Howes have long been opaque and even inscrutable. Flavell’s scholarship and deft storytelling add nuance, sympathy and granularity to the family portrait."

Journal of the American Revolution - Kelly Mielke

"Flavell deftly weaves together social, political, and military history and presents a whole picture of the Howe family that discredits some of the criticism of the Howes while elevating the value put upon history as told from a woman’s perspective."

Library Journal

07/01/2021

With this latest work, Flavell (When London Was Capital of America) explores the history of the Howe family, particularly the generation of Howes who played an immense role in military history in North America. Flavell shows that the Howe brothers George and Richard were heavily involved, on behalf of the British, in military actions in the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War. She writes that the Howe women, sister Caroline and mother Lady Howe in particular, were integral in the management of the Howe men's reputations, as well as in the political maneuvering behind the scenes. Flavell primarily looks at the brothers through the lens of their highly influential sister Caroline. Caroline's prolific letter writing reveals her involvement in everything from peace negotiations with Benjamin Franklin, to the management of her brothers' reputations when the Revolutionary War did not go as planned for the UK. Full of detail and intrigue, the narrative is illustrated with vivid portraits of extended family members and maps of military engagements. VERDICT This engaging popular history stands apart for its different perspective of the British side of the American Revolution and the Howe family's involvement in peace efforts.—Stacy Shaw, Denver

Kirkus Reviews

2021-05-04
Historian Flavell reappraises the careers of two maligned British commanders in the Revolutionary War and shows how female relatives tried to burnish the men’s reputations.

In “the first whole-family history of the Howes,” the author focuses on the brothers Gen. William Howe, Richard Admiral Lord Howe, and, to a lesser degree, Brig. Gen. George Howe, who was killed near Fort Ticonderoga in the Seven Years’ War. With 10 offspring, the Howes’ aristocratic parents favored “the rather heartless tradition of recycling the dynastic names of dead children.” The early chapters move slowly as Flavell introduces generations of Georges and Sophias and Charlottes and remote events such as the War of Jenkins’ Ear. After 100 or so pages, as the Revolutionary War nears, the narrative gains—and retains—a momentum that effectively turns a group biography into a swiftly paced history of the war and its aftermath, when the public vilified William and Richard for their strategic missteps but later restored them to high esteem. Flavell balances accounts of battles in America with tales of how well-connected Howe women in England tried to advance the brothers’ careers in the press and elsewhere. In 1774, their sister made a noteworthy effort when she tried—over games of chess with Benjamin Franklin—to help Richard find a peaceful alternative to the looming war. Throughout, the author rebuts—sometimes convincingly—common views of the Howes, including that as commander of the British land forces in America, William showed “at the least profound character and professional flaws and, at worst, a conspiratorial ambition to promote the Howes and their quest to save the empire.” Flavell also labels as “probably not true” the rumors that William had a distracting affair with Elizabeth Lloyd Loring. The author offers much for historians to argue about and plenty for patient readers to enjoy.

An intelligent, sympathetic portrait that challenges popular views of the Howe family.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940172545597
Publisher:	Penguin Random House
Publication date:	07/20/2021
Edition description:	Unabridged

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