Brothers At Arms: American Independence and the Men of France and Spain Who Saved It by Larrie D. Ferreiro. 2016

Brothers At Arms: American Independence  
 and the Men  of France and Spain Who Saved It by Larrie D. Ferreiro.  2016

Journal of The American Revolution Book of The Year for 2016

A Revolutionary Reading and Autoditactic Corner Selection

If you are interested in learning more about The American Revolution than just the standard Hagiography taught in American schools study  the webpage of The Journal of The American Revolution.  They have a list of the hundred best books on The Revolution, broken into sections so you can follow your interests.  About half of the books are available in Kindle Editions, my preferred mode, and long term I hope to read a number of them. 

Since 2014 they have given an annual Award for best book,  with honourable mentions.  It is here i learned of  today’s book.


Ferriero’s book showed me that very likely without the help of France The Revolution would have failed. The assistance went way beyond officers like  Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette serving in The American Army.  Thousands of French soldiers  and sailors fought for the Americans.  The French government supplied rifles,canons, uniforms ships worth in today’s dollar over Thirty   Billion dollars.  The objective of the French government was to undermine the power of England by dragging it into a long war.  With the aid of The Spanish Navy, eventually the British were no longer able to move their troops around.  The French and Spanish had their eyes on the Sugar  Islands and on harrsssing British ships with priveteers. They also stirred up up trouble in India.  All this helped thin out Englsnd’s ability to fighf a revolt  thousands of miles from London. 

Ferriero brings lots of interesting characters on stage.  On returning home many French officers, mostly from the aristocracy, ended up being executed during the French Revolution.  Lafayette spent five years in prison and if not for pleas of George Washington might have died there.  

I give this book my total endorsement.  All into American history, especially teachers should read it.

It was a finalist for The Pulitzer Prize in History in 2016.



From The Publisher

“The remarkable untold story of how the American Revolution’s success depended on substantial military assistance provided by France and Spain, and places the Revolution in the context of the global strategic interests of those nations in their fight against England. 
In this groundbreaking, revisionist history, Larrie Ferreiro shows that at the time the first shots were fired at Lexington and Concord the colonists had little chance, if any, of militarily defeating the British. The nascent American nation had no navy, little in the way of artillery, and a militia bereft even of gunpowder. In his detailed accounts Ferreiro shows that without the extensive military and financial support of the French and Spanish, the American cause would never have succeeded. France and Spain provided close to the equivalent of $30 billion and 90 percent of all guns used by the Americans, and they sent soldiers and sailors by the thousands to fight and die alongside the Americans, as well as around the world” 

Larrie D. Ferreiro is a naval architect and historian who served for more than thirty-five years in the US Navy, the US Coast Guard, and the Department of Defense. An Adjunct Professor of Engineering and History at George Mason University, he is the author of the award-winning Ships and Science (MIT Press) and Brothers in Arms, a Pulitzer Prize finalist in History.

Mel u






















 ,.