The First Salute

A View of the American Revolution

By: Barbara Tuchman

Narrated by: Davina Porter

The prize-winning historian’s fresh look at the people and events that decided America’s struggle for independence. Its suspenseful climax is the 500-mile march undertaken by General Washington to surround Cornwallis at Yorktown.

©1988 Barbara W. Tuchman (P)1989 Recorded Books, LLC

Grand story!

Starting America , pluck and luck. Story well told of the men strong and men cautious writing history. I recommend it.

A different view of the American Revolution

What made the experience of listening to The First Salute the most enjoyable?

The fact that a British woman, Davina Porter, read about the American Rebellion made this enjoyable.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The First Salute?

How influential the Dutch and French were in helping the floundering American Rebellion become victorious over the British masters. This gets left out of school text books.

What about Davina Porter’s performance did you like?

She read with enthusiasm. She would change her voice when reading dialogue of the different characters.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No extreme reactions, just well done.

Any additional comments?

Learning about naval warfare in the 18th Century was interesting for me. The land battles get most of the press, but the American, French and Dutch navies helped bring this Rebellion to a successful conclusion.

The Best of the Story is in the Details

It's not about the finish; this book is too big for that, too dense. Just enjoy the process from syntaxe to vocabulary, analogy and metaphor and, most of all, the details about these extraordinary people and seminal times.