"'Unhappy Catastrophes'" Topic

'Unhappy Catastrophes: The American Revolution in Central New Jersey, 1776-1782 (Emerging Revolutionary War)'
by Robert Dunkerly.

Greetings all. This book has just come up on my radar. It seems quite short (192 pages). Is the work more of a gazeteer of sites in New Jersey with brief entries as to what took place where or is there a fuller narrative.

I was wondering whether any members have seen or read the book and if they might enlighten me.

Many thanks

One line in the Author's Note is as interesting as it is puzzling:

'With the British invasion in the fall of 1776, New Jersey became the front line and remained the primary theater for the rest of the war.'

I find that idea puzzling as the war shifted to the South in 1779 and became the decisive theater of the war. As to what the author means by 'primary theater' I have no idea as I don't have the book, and that line does not lend itself to a factual account of the importance of New Jersey as a 'theater' of war.

The northern theater of the war was decisive with the Saratoga campaign and the surrender of Burgoyne's army in 1777. At best New Jersey was a secondary theater of war as major events moved away from it to go elsewhere.