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Examines what is perhaps "the most underappreciated chapter in American history [in an] ... account of Valley Forge, the Continental Army winter camp where George Washington turned the tide of the American Revolution"--
About the author
Bob Drury is the author/coauthor/editor of nine books. He has written for numerous publications, including
The New York Times,
Vanity Fair,
Men’s Journal, and
GQ. He is currently a contributing editor and foreign correspondent for
Men’s Health. He lives in Manasquan, New Jersey.
Tom Clavin is the author or coauthor of sixteen books. For fifteen years he wrote for
The New York Times and has contributed to such magazines as
Golf,
Men's Journal,
Parade,
Reader’s Digest, and
Smithsonian. He is currently the investigative features correspondent for
Manhattan Magazine. He lives in Sag Harbor, New York.
Summary
The #1 New York Times bestselling authors of The Heart of Everything That Is return with “a thorough, nuanced, and enthralling account” (The Wall Street Journal) about one of the most inspiring—and underappreciated—chapters in American history: the Continental Army’s six-month transformation in Valley Forge.
In December 1777, some 12,000 members of America’s Continental Army stagger into a small Pennsylvania encampment near British-occupied Philadelphia. Their commander in chief, George Washington, is at the lowest ebb of his military career. Yet, somehow, Washington, with a dedicated coterie of advisers, sets out to breathe new life into his military force. Against all odds, they manage to turn a bobtail army of citizen soldiers into a professional fighting force that will change the world forever.
Valley Forge is the story of how that metamorphosis occurred. Bestselling authors Bob Drury and Tom Clavin show us how this miracle was accomplished despite thousands of American soldiers succumbing to disease, starvation, and the elements. At the center of it all is George Washington as he fends off pernicious political conspiracies. The Valley Forge winter is his—and the revolution’s—last chance at redemption. And after six months in the camp, Washington fulfills his destiny, leading the Continental Army to a stunning victory in the Battle of Monmouth Court House.
Valley Forge is the riveting true story of a nascent United States toppling an empire. Using new and rarely seen contemporaneous documents—and drawing on a cast of iconic characters and remarkable moments that capture the innovation and energy that led to the birth of our nation—Drury and Clavin provide a “gripping, panoramic account” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) of the definitive account of this seminal and previously undervalued moment in the battle for American independence.
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“Here is a beautiful book about a dire passage in our country's history, a time of supreme reckoning that revealed some of the first stirrings of our national character. Through muscular prose grounded in meticulous research, Drury and Clavin capture all the tribulations of that storied winter encampment, and show us how Washington, in his finest hour, managed to pull his bedraggled army—and the revolution itself—from the brink of disaster.”
—Hampton Sides, bestselling author of In the Kingdom of Ice and On Desperate Ground
