Series: "Forgotten Heroes of the American Revolution "

Books about these five long-forgotten war heroes are not available at this level and references to them in other books and primary documents are sparse. This well-written series will fill that gap. Each title covers the subject’s life, but the bulk of the book is about the individual’s role in the Revolutionary War. The books open with a series of quotes that testify to the individual’s important role in the American Revolution. Background information on the war, the political scene, and other people help to give context. Scattered throughout the pages are insets that give an extra fact related to the text. The books are illustrated with reproductions of battle art and portraits of many of the British and American military members. Color maps and photos of relevant artifacts add clarity and interest. If the American Revolution is a part of your curriculum, you’ll want to consider these. Recommended.

-Library Media Connection, on the Forgotten Heroes of the American Revolution series. (August/September 2007)

The Revolutionary War comes to life in this new series. Although a different person writes each title, all are well researched and contain accurate facts presented in a readable and engaging style. The books are visually appealing, with all pictures, illustrations, maps, and photos in color. Unfamiliar terms are boldfaced in the text and defined in a glossary. Also included are comprehensive bibliographies with books for students and older readers as well as accessible Web sites, a benefit to student researchers.

Daniel Morgan was a sharpshooter and fierce warrior who commanded a unit similar to today’s military Special Operations forces. Through his life story, readers get a picture of what the frontier was like in the early nation while they learn about the types of guns used in the Revolutionary War and the way fighting units conducted themselves during battles. Nathanael Greene was a brilliant military strategist who became one of Washington’s most trusted generals and one of the youngest, being only in his thirties. Instrumental in bringing down the British in the south, leading to their surrender, Greene built up the supply system that allowed the Americans to continue the war. Other titles in the series are Henry Knox, Francis Marion, and John Stark. The books detail major battles of the Revolutionary War, describing the strategies employed by the major players on both sides.

It will be difficult for catalogers to decide whether to place these books in the biography section, where they may be overlooked, or with the books about the Revolutionary War, where they may be well used because of their excellent coverage of major battles and personalities.

—VOYA, on Forgotten Heroes of the American Revolution series. (February 2007)

Part of the new Forgotten Heroes of the American Revolution series, this lively profile combines an engrossing account of the Revolutionary War with healthy measures of images and passages drawn from primary—and sometimes previously unpublished—sources. The author, resident educator at the General Nathanael Greene Homestead Museum, argues that the Rhode Islander played a pivotal role in the war with brilliant performances as, first, Washington’s quartermaster general and then, later, as his commander in the South. His sudden death just after the war’s end consigned him to relative obscurity, but this account of his life and career certainly makes a strong move to redress that. Equally rewarding for pleasure reading or assignments, for which the useful multimedia resource list will provide added support.

-Booklist, on Nathanael Greene: The General Who Saved the Revolution. (January 2007)

Forgotten Heroes of the American Revolution is a new five-volume series from OTTN Publishing that highlights and showcases the lives and contributions of key men in the American war for independence from Great Britain.

Nathanael Greene: The General Who Saved The Revolution (1595560122, $23.95) tells the story of the commander of the Continental Army in the South who forged a successful strategy against a superior British force, resulting in the critically important American victory at Yorktown. Henry Knox: Washington's Artilleryman (1595560130, $23.95) details the extraordinary task of moving cannons from Fort Ticonderoga to Dorchester Heights near Boston for an important American victory early in the war. Francis Marion: Swamp Fox of South Carolina (1595560149, $23.95) depicts the American master of guerilla-style warfare of hit and run which salvaged fading American hopes with respect to eventually defeating British forces. Daniel Morgan: Fighting Frontiersman (1595560157, $23.95) reveals one of America's greatest battlefield tacticians and illustrates Morgan's vital contributions to the two American victories: Saratoga in 1777 and Cowpens in 1781. John Stark: Live Free Or Die (1595560165, $23.95) focuses on General Stark’s victory at Bennington in August 1777 which allowed American forces to capture an entire British army at Saratoga and which proved to be the turning point in the war for American independence.

Each sturdily bound individual title is superbly illustrated with color maps and illustrations, while featuring quotations from primary historical sources. Forgotten Heroes of the American Revolution is a simply outstanding series and strongly recommended for elementary school and community library American History collections

-Children's Bookwatch, on the Forgotten Heroes series. (December 2006)

Karl Crannel, a staff member at Fort Ticonderoga, offers a solid biography of [John] Stark aimed at a middle-school reading level. It is part of a series on "forgotten heroes of the American Revolution" that includes Daniel Morgan, Nathanael Greene, Henry Knox, and Francis Marion. The illustrations are attractive and a picture of eighteenth-century life in New England is well drawn, but the history is somewhat simplified. The brash capture of Fort Ticonderoga by Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold in May 1775 is overlooked; and Burgoyne's master plan, the pincer movement from the west and south on Albany that never materialized, is glossed over.

-Vermont History, on John Stark: Live Free or Die. (Spring 2008)