To Try Men’s Souls: A Novel of George Washington and the Fight for American Freedom
Posted on Thursday, December 17th, 2009 at 9:45 am
- ISBN13: 9780312591069
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Product Description
After two bestselling series examining the Civil War and WWII, Newt Gingrich and William R. Forstchen have turned their sharp eye for detail on the Revolutionary War. Their story follows three men with three very different roles to play in history: General George Washington, Thomas Paine, and Jonathan Van Dorn, a private in Washington’s army.
The action focuses on one of the most iconic events in American history: Washington cross – ing the Delaware. Unlike the bold, courageous General in Emanuel Leutze’s painting, Washington is full of doubt on the night of December 25, 1776. After five months of defeat, morale is dangerously low. Each morning muster shows that hundreds have deserted in the night.
While Washington prepares his weary troops for the attack on Trenton, Thomas Paine is in Philadelphia, overseeing the printing of his newest pamphlet, The Crisis.
And Jonathan Van Dorn is about to bring the war to his own doorstep. In the heat of battle, he must decide between staying loyal to the cause and sparing his brother who has joined up with the British. Through the thoughts and private fears of these three men, Gingrich and Forstchen illu minate the darkest days of the Revolution. With detailed research and an incredible depth of military insight, this novel provides a rare and personal perspective of the men who fought for, and founded the United States of America.
As an avid reader on American History, this book was a real disappointment to me. Ginrich and Forstchen try their best to give us an insight into the lives and times of three individuals involved in a critical battle of the Revolutionary War. Through the imagined words of George Washington, Thomas Paine and a private in Washington’s army they tell the story as if we are there and a part of what is taking place. Unfortunately, the telling is dull, repetitive and outright boring. Don’t waste your time with this one.
Rating: 1 / 5
I enjoyed the authors’ previous works on the Civil War and WWII (Civil War was better). After all, Gingrich was/is a history profesor, and Forstchen a leader in alt-history.
Let’s make a long story short. This is one day in the life of the American Revolution – the sauccessful battle of Trenton, with Washington crossing the Delaware. It’s viewed through the eyes of Washington, Thomas Paine, and a common soldier from New Jersey.
Yes, there are some flashbacks which give the scene some place in history. However, to me, the concept that Tom Paine was responsible for the morale of Washington’s army, and hence for the success of the mission (and survival of the United States) seems a bit overstated.
Others have written this story before, and mostly better. I’d recommend this novelization of history (admittedly amply and carefully documented) for an individual who has had little exposure to some of the more popular historical accounts.
Finally, the emphasis on Paine’s radical writing seems to fit a bit too well with Gingrich’s current political positions; there is a sense of watering the tree of liberty with blood as being more than a mere metaphor.
Rating: 2 / 5
As a student of history I hesitate to review any work of historical fiction given the artistic liberty that must be granted in order for the narrative to be of any interest to the general audience. Popular historical fictional works such as “John Adams” and “1776″ by author McCullough are good examples of the proper balance between entertainment and scholarly discourse. However, for every good example of historical fiction comes over a dozen bad ones that take too much liberty in details that would otherwise be impossible to obtain. While such artistic liberty may be entertaining to the reader, it may give the wrong impression of historical fact as well. Us history scholars often refer to this as the “History Channel Effect.” Nothing against the History Channel (I personally DVR every episode of Lock and Load), but it’s not always scholarly either.
To Try Men’s Souls (”Men’s Souls” for short) is an example of a scale tipping towards entertainment moderately more than scholarly discourse. Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and fellow authors Forstchen and Hanser try their hands at recreating the Battle of Trenton through three narratives (George Washington being one of them) to show some extreme degree of patriotism for whatever reason. Unfortunately for me, my copy of Men’s Souls did not contain a forward, prologue, introduction of even a bibliography. I attempted to contact Gringrich’s people and even the publishers office hoping to get the complete bibliography and and an introduction with a thesis statement. Without either, I cannot accurately judge this book as I can barely tell what the point is and, more importantly, where the authors got their information from. This is critical in any review of a final product.
Unfortunately, I have not yet received a reply from either so I am to assume there is none. To quote a famous Wendy’s commercial from the 1980s, “Where’s the beef?!”
Lack of thesis statement and bibliography aside, Gingrich and friends certainly picked an intriguing topic to write one; one of the pivotal moments in the American Revolution, where Washington is facing the jaws of defeat and needs a miracle to turn the war around. It’s enough for any American with a sense of pride in our heritage to not put the book down. If you can get past the lack of citations in the text, you will enjoy this book.
I really cannot say much more about Men’s Souls given I cannot get over the lack of an introduction and bibliography. It just boggles the mind as to why there is none. Perhaps it is my advance copy, but a bibliography and intro is critical for any reviewer. A solid B- unless Gingrich and friends can get me a bibliography and introduction so I can properly analyze the text in it’s entirety.
Rating: 4 / 5
Writing historical fiction is a delicate balance – too much accurate history or too much fake history and the story does not feel right. Gingrich and Forstechen I believe tried to walk that fine line in “To Try Men’s Souls”, but did not succeed – it is just too close with the hint of fiction. The fictitious storylines were bland and poorly developed which do not allow for any real involvement by the reader.
While the events of that Christmas night and the next morning are sometimes riveting, the Thomas Paine sequences are just down right, well, painful. The characters seem real, but too contrived. I’m not saying that Washington wasn’t this type of General or gentleman, but the quotations are just too forced.
Additionally, the story jumps around a bit to the prior three months leading up to this battle. Even knowing about the disastrous three months prior to this day, I was confused by the time movements. The events leading up the Crossing were not very interesting, but the authors must have felt that they needed to fill space or develop the storyline and characters; however, they only filled space. Some editing might have helped the extreme amount of repetition on the men’s conditions, weather, etc.
If you do not like nonfiction, and haven’t read anything about this night, it might be just the right book for you. If you have read other true accounts, then this is not going to add anything to your knowledge base.
Rating: 3 / 5
I thank the founders of the USA every time I get the chance. The hell they went through to gain independence from England was so far beyond our contemporary experience that it is hard to relate.
That’s my biggest problem with this book. The founding fathers suffer, suffer some more, and suffer again. They suffer so much the book becomes a depressing sprawl of pain. Barefoot, freezing men crossing the Delaware River to surprise the Hessians. We all know some of the basics of the story. We don’t know about the pain and suffering they went through to make it happen. This book takes several hundred pages telling us about what they went through leading up to and during that night. It’s just depressing.
The writing is fine and the story is not too difficult to follow. You do have to pay attention to the dates so you don’t get ahead or behind the story though. The main characters are Tom Paine (Common Sense) and General George Washington. I think the personification of Washington is better than that of Paine. If the Paine character is accurately portrayed, he was a talented alcoholic who wouldn’t do the one thing that distinguished him from others and that is to write inspirationally. It got frustrating following Paine from bottle to bottle and listening to his anguish about not knowing what to write about.
If Revolutionary times are really your bag, this book will probably appeal more to you than me. I just couldn’t relate to this tale in the fashion it was told.
Rating: 3 / 5