"Good one-stop-shop book for AWI?" Topic

Been looking at the local book stores which usually have a decent selection of history books but it's challenging to find anything that focuses specifically on the military aspects, over the political.

Any solutions for a decent one-volume book that covers all the bits a gamer might wish for?

John Ward's classic The War of the Revolution and A Battlefield Atlas of the American Revolution by Craig Symonds

Ditto: JA stole my answer!

I am currently reading With Zeal and Bayonets only: link

Very detailed look at how the British army fought tactically. May not be exactly what you are looking for but recommended.

Seconded With Zeal and Bayonets Only. Great book.

The War of the Revolution is by Christopher Ward, not John Ward. It is a good overall history of the war, albeit it was published in 1952 so it won't have the latest scholarship. Copies, both original and reprints, are readily available.

Well, multiple people recommending the same books makes it an easy choice, so I'll pick up those :-)

If there are other recommendations, please don't be shy.

While not a comprehensive history of the war, I found Urban's "Fusiliers" pretty interesting from the wargamers point of view. Kind of like a Band of Brothers for the AWI.

Stay away from Patriot Battles, unless you want to hear parallels between the American Revolution and the Iraq War.

Another vote for With Zeal and Bayonets only. Wish there were a similar book for the American Armies!

weasel – Sadly, no one book will really fulfill your need for a "wargaming" one-stop shop, since a "proper" history book will seldom give you the tabletop detail you are looking for, whilst a wargaming book will be light on the history (and quite a few make mistakes in simplifying what actually happened on the battlefield). Christopher Ward's two-volume work is ok, but showing its age a bit – not his fault, a lot of new material has been uncovered since he published it. Greg Novaks' two-volume book of orbats is still excellent (although, sadly, he was working on a further update when he died).

For the Continental Army, the following will give you a pretty good understanding of how it was organised, fought, and looked for most period/theatres of the AWI:
- The Continental Army (Robert K Wright jnr)
- Uniforms of the Continental Army (Philip Katcher)
- George Washington's Army vols 1 & 2 (Marko Zlatich – Osprey MAA 273/290)*
- Encyclopedia of Continental Army units (Fred B Anderson)
- The Exercise of Arms in the Continental Army (E W Peterkin)
- The book of the Continental soldier (Harold L Peterson)

FWIW, I see the last book as aimed more at younger readers, but grown ups on here think it has something to say so let's go with it.

[* NOT the very old Osprey by Peter Young – sadly, too much like the other early Ospreys to be of much use.]

The equivalents for the British Army are:-
- The role of the British Army in the coming of the American Revolution (John Shy)
- The British Soldier in America (Sylvia Frey)
- The organisation of the British Army in the American revolution (E E Curtis)
- With zeal and with bayonets only (Dr Matthew Spring)
- Fusiliers(Mark Urban)
- The British Army in North America 1775-1783 (Robin May, Osprey MAA 39)
- King George's Army 1775-1783 – a handbook of British, American and German regiments (Philip Katcher, Osprey hardback)

All of the above should be available via public library interloan – at least they are in the UK, I would have thought the same would be true in the US. I hope that helps, as opposed to just giving you more headaches.

Should update you guys:

Got both volumes of Ward's book coming, and am almost finished with "With Zeal and bayonets only" which is a fantastic work indeed.

Super--is anything known about the state of Greg Novak's papers,or how complete the manuscript was?

It's unfortunate that Old Glory left out most of the bibliography in the current edition.

I'm afraid I can't help you with that question. I was talking to Greg a few months before he died (he was asking if he could use some Saratoga material I had uncovered) and he mentioned that he was moving towards a third edition, given all the new stuff he had uncovered/been given since OG had published the second version. Perhaps someone who knew him better could contact his family and ask? I'm sure there are several people (me included) who would be happy to edit and publish in his name.