Unbelievable

In just one of the many small paradoxes of life I am a big fan of history and a very small fan of non-fiction.  But books like Jim Murphy's The Crossing are helping me change my mind about that.  

The Crossing is a brief (I say brief not because it is lacking information but because compared to the thousands of pages that have been devoted to this subject it is brief) description of George Washington's role in the American Revolution.  In other words, it focuses on his role as the general not his role as president.  

The first thing that attracted me to this book, besides the fact that it is on the Reading Olympics list for this year, was its layout.  The book is the size of a typical children's picture book, meaning the pages are bigger.  There are very few pages of just text, and even those don't feel overwhelming thanks to the large font size.  Most pages are a mix of prints from the time, maps, diagrams and words.  I always love when a book includes maps or pictures and in this case all of that extra info that's in the pictures/maps/diagrams/etc really gives you a sense of the time period. 

After reading this book I couldn't help but think, "It really is unbelievable that we managed to win the Revolutionary War."  Here's an example of what I mean.  Washington's men were camped waiting for another attack.  The British General, General Howe, was just waiting for his warships to move into the East River behind the American troops.  If he was able to attack he would most likely destroy all that was left of Washington's army.  But there was a fortunate wind-the wind forced the warship to stay in the bay.  That night a heavy rain started.  Washington knew the attack would come as soon as the wind changed but he also knew his army could not win should the British attack.  

Washington decided to move his army.  They secretly moved the men onto a waiting Ferry and headed to Manhattan Island.  A strong wind almost pushed the boats into view of enemy ships but at the last second the wind changed and secrecy was maintained.  By morning there were still over 1,000 men who needed to take the ferry.  "It would be only seconds before the British realized what was happening and sent swarms of troops to attack the remaining rebels...At about this time, a very dense fog began to rise, and it seemed to settle in a peculiar manner over both encampments...the last remaining troops of the Continental army made their escape."  Unbelievable...fog saved the Continental Army...unbelievable.  

Knowing your history...that's kids stuff.