The Philadelphia Campaign, 1777 (Casemate Illustrated)

As 1776 turned into 1777, the American dream of independence was in serious peril. Michael Harris’s new book, The Philadelphia Campaign, 1777, takes the reader back to a moment during America’s difficult birth when things were at a true turning point. The American cause was at a knife’s edge and the vastly superior British military had finally managed to box in the rebels.

The book provides a detailed and quick-paced recounting of the British campaign for Philadelphia and the desperate struggle of their American opponents to counter their efforts. The book moves perspectives between each side and manages to effectively showcase the trying logistics involved in prolonged warfare. The book also does an excellent job of demystifying the overall conflict.

Harris’s writing is nuanced and breezy. The book’s visuals and numerous colorful images are compelling and revealing. The defining conflict of a weakened fledgling American army slowly finding its strength against a mighty empire is presented with haunting clarity. Many of the long-deceased characters are presented as detailed and fully formed human beings, and you get a true sense of their own narratives as people. But perhaps the greatest honor that can be given to this book is that it is a nonfiction book that places you so deep in the action that you forget it is a tale of the past. It all feels so real and so current.

This book is a literary experience that any fan of American history should undertake with great speed and an experience that I didn’t want to end.