Well, in past few weeks I read:
1. The Invasion of Virginia 1781
by Michael Cecere
It was pretty good. Most books that examine the Rev War in Virginia in 1781 focus on Yorktown (for good reason). This book looks at Bendict Arnold's landing British troops in the Tidewater area, and what took place with them, the militia that battled them, the government of Virginia in Richmond, the governor (Thomas Jefferson) in Richmond, etc. (Cornwallis moved his large force to join up with Arnold's smaller group, and ultimately Cornwallis surrendered to Washington at Yorktown, but that's not really examined by Cecere.) It's a book that focuses on a small theatre of the Rev War, but brings a lot of detail to the examination. I enjoyed it. It's hard to say if non-Rev War junkies would enjoy the book as much as I did -- probably not, but it's well written, and not very long in length, so it should keep your interest.
2. Whispers Across The Atlantick: General William Howe and the American Revolution
by David Smith
This book was excellent. Gen. Howe was the leader of the British forces in America in 1776 and 1777*. Britain had assembled the largest force in their history to handle the revolution. Howe initial battle was in Brooklyn, where he routed the American forces. (As in most large battles where Gen. Washington faced the British, he did a poor job of defending the flank.) Howe did not press the advantage at the end of the battle, or the next day, and the Americans were able to slip away to Manhattan. For the rest of 1776, the British defeated the Americans in a series of battles, yet Howe did not seem to aggressively utilize his superiority in numbers, arms, or naval vessels. The patriots got their first victories at the end of the year, in the surprise attack on Trenton and the subsequent attack on Princeton.
Howe's hesitancy continued in 1777, where he decided not to march up the North River (now called the Hudson), to link up with Burgoyne's troops coming south from Canada. Had the two British forces linked up, they would have basically cut the rebellious colonies in half, and eliminated most means of communication, troop movement, supplies by the French, etc. between the New England colonies and the rest of the colonies. Instead of joining up with Burgoyne, Howe decided to take Philadelphia. He had boats built that could fit on carriages for the trek, but would be used to ferry the troops and supplies across the Delaware. After dithering in New Jersey, and some limited patriot attacks, Howe changed course and decided to go by boat to take Philadelphia. The trip took far longer than anticipated, and when they got to Delaware Bay they met with the commander of a British boat patrolling the mouth of the Bay, and then decided to continue on to the Chesapeake Bay. Their limited supplies ran out, the majority of their horses were pushed overboard due to sickness, death, or lack of food. They finally landed in late August, defeated Washington at the Battle of Brandywine (again, mostly due to Washington not adequately protecting his flank), and subsequently took Philadelphia. After the Battle of Germantown, Howe basically shut down the 1777 campaign, took comfort in Philadelphia, and made little to no effort to bother Washington's forces at Valley Forge.
Howe's superiors in Britain (Lord Germain, Lord North, and King George III) grew increasingly exacerbated by Howe's limited activity, and failure to put down the rebellion. Howe offered his resignation in Oct. 1777, and was notified in April 1778 that his offer was accepted.
Since then, there has been endless debate about why Howe did not prosecute the war more vigorously. Reasons offered have included:
1. his respect for Americans who had erected a statue of his older brother in Boston, and thus his belief that if he bloodied their noses just a bit in 1776 they would come to their senses, and give up the rebellion
2. his inability to get along with the first leader of the German troops that augmented the British forces (who didn't speak English, and Howe didn't speak German, and it took several months for them to get somebody to serve as a go-between that spoke both languages)
3. his distrust of his 2nd in command, Gen. Clinton, who constantly wanted to attack, and didn't work well with anyone
4. his enjoying the charms of Mrs. Loring, in NYC and in Philadelphia
5. his general cautiousness
6. the number of casualties forces under his command suffered in his initial efforts in the Rev War, at the Battle of Bunker Hill*
6. etc.
Historians have also been hamstrung by a fire that took place at the Howe estate, which destroyed a lot of Gen. Howe's papers long after the Rev War.
This book examines why Howe failed, and does so through the perspective of the defense Gen. Howe offered in the House of Commons to an inquiry into his efforts/failures/etc. a few years after his resignation. It's the best analysis I've read of Howe's actions/inactions during the Rev War. The book, which came out in 2017, has proved to be very popular with Rev War enthusiasts, and I would highly recommend it to the general public.
* Howe joined the British efforts against the rebellion in 1775, under Gen. Gage at Boston. His most notable involvement was in the Battle of Bunker Hill. He became the Commander-in-Chief of the British Army in America in Oct. 1775.
And all of the scantily clad Aiel. Plus many of the scenes would require quite an animation budget. That wouldn't work for a network TV series.
