Date(s): |
March 26, 2019 to March 26, 2019 |
Description: |
In their brand new book best selling authors Bob Drury, who presents at this event, and Tom Clavin relate how this miraculous metamorphosis was accomplished despite thousands of American soldiers succumbing to disease, starvation, and the elements. Baron von Steuben is throwing himself into the dedicated drilling sessions he imported from Prussian battlefields. Alexander Hamilton is proffering the shrewd advice that wards off his beloved commander-in-chief’s scheming political rivals. John Laurens is determined to integrate the Continental Army with freed black men and slaves. Marquis de Lafayette is thirsting for battlefield accolades while tenaciously lobbying his own king for crucial French aid.
At the center of it all is George Washington, in the prime of his life yet confronting crushing failure as he fends off political conspiracies every bit as pernicious as his incessant military challenges. The Virginia planter-turned-general is viewed by many as unqualified to lead the Continental Army after the humiliating loss of Philadelphia, and his detractors in and out of Congress plot to replace him. The Valley Forge winter is a last chance for redemption. After six months in the camp (spoiler alert!), Washington fulfills his destiny, leading the Continental Army to a stunning victory in the Battle of Monmouth Court House. The momentum is never again with the Redcoats.
Valley Forge is the riveting true story of a nascent United States toppling an empire. Using new and rarely seen contemporaneous documents, and drawing on a cast of iconic characters and remarkable moments that capture the innovation and energy that led to the birth of our nation, Drury tonight provides an introduction to their definitive account of this seminal moment in the battle for American independence, and dispels a few well-worn myths in the process.
Co-sponsored by Radnor Memorial Library & Radnor Historical Society.
Books for sale, supplied by Main Point Books. |