America's war for independence is fought yet again in this handsome but off-balanced documentary that relies heavily on low-budget re-enactors, talking-head scholars, and first-person accounts of the conflict delivered with appropriately mournful narration. The war and its deep roots were far more complex than many people realize or care to acknowledge: loyalists to the crown were at constant odds with rabblerousing rebels who often seemed to be improvising the uprising as it went along. What goes unmentioned is the fact that Britain did not so much lose the war as the Americans were vaulted into victory thanks to military and financial assistance from the French (cited here) and the Spanish (not cited). George Washington's army was undersupplied and badly managed (consider the debacle at Valley Forge), the Continental Congress lacked vigorous leadership (Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson abruptly left after the Declaration of Independence was signed), and a considerable chunk of the American-born population was averse to the idea of severing ties to the crown. The film also suggests that the British had a more lenient view of slavery than the Americans, even though slavery flourished throughout the British empire well into the 19th century. Hosted by British military historian Richard Holmes and offering a distinctly British perspective, Rebels & Redcoats runs some four hours, but never really seems to plumb the wide range of issues and emotions underlying the Revolutionary War. A far better choice here would be the superior PBS-aired six-hour documentary Liberty (VL-5/98). Not a necessary purchase. Aud: H, C, P. (P. Hall)
Rebels & Redcoats: How Britain Lost America
(2004) 2 videocassettes or 1 disc. 240 min. VHS or DVD: $24.98 ($54.95 w/PPR). PBS Video. Color cover. Closed captioned. ISBN: 1-4157-0216-0 (dvd). Volume 19, Issue 6
Rebels & Redcoats: How Britain Lost America
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