The New York Times Book Review - Alex von Tunzelmann
In his colorful and ambitious new transnational history, Matthew Lockwood…is interested in how the ripples caused by the American Revolution affected everywhere outside the modern United States. The narrative hops from Britain and Ireland to the Spanish Empire, Russia, India, Australia, Africa and China, with a glittering cast of historical characters…
Publishers Weekly
08/26/2019
University of Alabama history professor Lockwood (The Conquest of Death) places the Revolutionary War in truly global historical context. He judiciously integrates economic, political, social, and legal developments across multiple locations (with convincing sections on the conflict’s aftermath in Russia, India, Africa, China, and the South Pacific) and focuses his exhaustive research on archives that include the underreported “voices of the poor, the struggles and triumphs of the common man and woman.” This enables him to humanize an epic story; for example, the revolution’s effects in Peru are conveyed through the experiences of Micaela Bastidas, who led a failed revolt against the Spanish Empire. Lockwood also makes connections that will be new even to readers knowledgeable about Revolutionary War history: for instance, readers may remember that Australia became a dumping ground for transported British convicts after the 13 colonies were no longer an option, but Lockwood argues that the number of convicts increased because of the growth of a criminal underclass caused by the war. Readers may be skeptical of Lockwood’s implication that certain developments, such as South American colonies’s struggles to gain independence, might not have happened without the American Revolution. Nonetheless, this is a breakthrough popular history, written with a novelist’s eye for detail and atmosphere. (Oct.)
From the Publisher
Lockwood . . . has a keen eye for a good yarn, and there are enthralling glimpses here of individual lives buffeted by the American Revolution.”—Alex von Tunzelmann, New York Times Book Review“A breakthrough popular history, written with a novelist’s eye for detail and atmosphere.”—Publishers Weekly“This is a history of the American Revolution unlike any other. As eventful and atmospheric as a novel, with a vast cast of characters drawn from all echelons of life and all parts of the globe, it is an evocative, exhaustive and ultimately involving analysis of how the Revolution changed the face of the world.”—All About History“Impressive rigour of exposition”—Dr Ben Marsh, AC Review of Books“A stunning narrative about the violent aftershocks of the American Revolution. Lockwood shows how the American revolution set off a global war in its own image that carried revolutionary violence and imperial repression not only to Europe but also to South America, India, Australia and Africa. His book movingly portrays the consequences for indigenous and subject peoples all over the globe, including those in the new United States.”—Stella Tillyard, author of Aristocrats“Matthew Lockwood is a master story-teller, deftly showcasing the lives of ordinary people alongside the impact of historical ideas and events. To Begin the World Over Again is enthralling, provocative, and wonderfully enlightening.”—Amanda Foreman, author of Georgiana"It has seemed to each generation that the no more can be said about the American Revolution; and then along comes a book like this, to tell us we have been looking in the wrong places."—Robert J. Allison, author of The American Revolution“A major contribution to our understanding of the American Revolution. Lockwood demonstrates that American independence had global ramifications. He does so with an eye for telling detail and graceful prose and deserves a wide audience of specialists and general readers.”—Francis D. Cogliano, author of Thomas Jefferson“In an apt metaphor, Matthew Lockwood likens the American Revolution to a stone cast into a pond, creating a splash whose ripples radiated outward to shake up the whole world. In addition to inspiring an "age of democratic revolutions" in France and Latin America, the wartime alliance with France caused a domino effect of warfare between Britain and several European powers that reverberated as far away as India. And in response to the loss of its American colonies, Britain reorganized and expanded imperial expansion elsewhere until the sun truly did not set on the empire. Lockwood untangles this complex story in a tour de force of historical scholarship.”—James M. McPherson, author of Battle Cry of Freedom
APRIL 2020 - AudioFile
Narrator Paul Boehmer guides listeners through this tome of well-documented nonfiction focusing on the long-lasting, worldwide ramifications of the American Revolutionary War. Boehmer is a trained actor, and he leans on those skills here. Because the events of this audiobook take place all around the world and because the book is full of direct quotes, Boehmer must use a variety of accents. He moves in and out of the narration with ease. Listeners will never be uncertain when the words Boehmer is reading are direct quotes from a character or the voice of the author giving context and analysis. Instructors who want students to immerse themselves in history should require this audiobook. A.R.F. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine
