Why Are There So Few Great Stories About The Revolutionary War?
We should remember the thrilling events of Dec. 25, 1776, not just those of D-Day and other great battles
Maybe it’s because I was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, which was occupied by the British during the winter of 1776. Or maybe it’s because, as the literary critic for a large newspaper, I had to clear shelves for books publishers sent about every major war except the American Revolution.
But I’ve never understood why good novels about the Revolutionary War are scarce — and movies about it are, too — when that conflict has so much dramatic potential.
Beyond ‘Hamilton’
For generations, children’s authors have written enduring, high-quality fiction about the war, including Esther Forbes’ Johnny Tremain and Jean Fritz’s Why Don’t You Get a Horse, Sam Adams?, both staples of school reading lists. Playwrights have had smash hits with Hamilton and 1776.
But no adult novel about the Revolutionary War has come close to their success in the past half century. This neglect is odd when before D-Day, the most thrilling story in U.S. history took place on Dec. 25–26, 1776.
