Cheap Rebels & Redcoats - How Britain Lost America (DVD) Price

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Customer Reviews of Rebels & Redcoats - How Britain Lost America

Watch it when its on PBS, don't bother buying it
This can be an interesting show to watch for the re-enactors and views of the various revolutionary battlefields, as well as many unique comments from Washington's (and other prominent characters) diaries. However Richard Holmes can be hard to listen to when used as a cameo in other historical documentaries, seeing him give his usual Pythonesk monotone for over half of the documentary's runtime got to be seriously annoying. Then for him to be constantly buzzing around in his mustang gives you the feeling he was on holiday and the film was just a tax write-off. Supposedly this was going to show the American Revolution from the British perspective, but as another reviewer already noted, he gave almost nothing to explain what was going on in Britain. Calling this a "civil war" ignores the fact that the Americas were colonies, that was one of the primary reasons for unrest, the colonists had all the responsibilities of being British with none of the advantages in rights such as tax representation. <
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>Its easy to see how so much of "real" English history disappeared, if this really is the British view (and I don't believe it is) since Holmes leaves out so many pertinent facts. He explains how Washington "brilliantly" fakes the British into thinking they will invade New York, Then marches on Yorktown and, with vital French help, defeats the British. Then goes on to describe the French commander's "embarrassing" refusal of Cornwallis' sword, since after all, it WAS a French victory. How could anyone think it was a french victory? If Cornwallis had won, do you think he would want the French sword? Cornwallis sent his second in command to give his sword to the French as an insult to Washington, whom he hated. The French commander knew this and deferred the sword to Washington, who then directed the British officer to HIS second in command. Holmes describes none of this and ignores many other vital facts, which perhaps may give the viewer a good idea of what the "official" history would look like if the colonists had lost their revolution. <
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>I still like to watch it when PBS shows it from time to time. A musician enjoys all types of music, but will appreciate some types more than others. As an historian, I enjoy everything relating to history, I just appreciate some things more than others, and unfortunately this rates somewhere near the bottom. <
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Disappointing
I have mixed feelings about this DVD on the American Revolution. On the positive side, the use of reenactors was good. Generally, PBS does uses reenactors much less than A&E (and its sister companies)and Discovery. This DVD was quite refreshing in that respect. I also very much enjoyed certain characters talking to the audience. I like this technique in historical documentaries. It cuts up the monotony of listening to a narrator and makes history come alive. Great job here. However, the battle scenes were small--only a handful of reenactors showed up on filming day, so we see the same few guys again and again. Also, the use of guys with beards seemed odd. Nevertheless, you work with what you have. <
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>As far as the presentation goes, the narrator is the star of the show. He is on screen way too much. It's 'interesting and valuable to see how some of the old sites, e.g. Breed's/Bunker Hills, Old North Church, etc. look today, but I really don't care to see the narrator traveling around in his car, playing with his radio. I felt that the film crew just followed this guy around on his vacation with a camera. And I cared even less to see MODERN New Yorkers (I think they were) going about their business. At least show me some painting from the 18th century. <
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>On to the content. This DVD is supposed to be from the British perspective. This is a welcome idea. I felt that it was very balanced, but too much so! I didn't get any sense of what the British, in 1776 or now, thought/think about the American Revolution (of course, there is the usual "loudest yelps of freedom from slavedrivers" quote, but so what? That really doesn't tell us much). I also didn't care for the narrator interviewing random people on a bus. That looked more like something from Leno's "Jaywalking" segment. <
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>Well, why did the British lose the war? The only thing that came through was that they "didn't win the hearts and minds of the people." Well blow me over with a feather!! I want to know what policies and practices, both from the generals and in London, led the British to defeat. What could they have done differently? Who was making the policy in London? What forces influenced his decisions? Could we have spent a few minutes watching a reenactment of a debate or council or the Prime Minister even working out things in his own mind? That would have been made this a great presentation. <
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>Quite honestly, there's not much new here. I would recommend A&E's or Discovery's Revolution sets (not PBS's Liberty, though). They go into much more detail. This set could be cut by half and we wouldn't miss anything. I've criticized a lot, and my criticisms are valid. However, the show gives good information, but it could have been a whole lot better. <
>Fritz Juengling PhD <
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