{"product_id":"war-without-mercy-9781472872678","title":"War Without Mercy","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eDrawing on vivid contemporary accounts, this is a fascinating exploration of how and why the Revolutionary War descended into a brutal existential struggle.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis engrossing history of the Revolutionary War conclusively shows that those caught up in it believed they had nothing to lose by fighting without regard for the rules of so-called civilized warfare. The clarion call to arms Liberty or Death was far more than just rhetoric. At its grimmest level, it was a conflict in which military restraint was more the exception than the rule, a struggle in which combatants believed their very existence was in question. This led to an acceptance of violence against persons and property as preferable to a defeat equated with political, cultural, and even physical extinction. It was war with an expectation and acceptance of ferocity and brutality  \u003ci\u003eanything\u003c\/i\u003e to avoid defeat.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA number of historians have previously concluded that United States' founding struggle reached a level of ferocity few Americans now associate with the movement for independence. However, these studies have described \u003ci\u003ewhat\u003c\/i\u003e happened, without looking in detail at \u003ci\u003ewhy\u003c\/i\u003e the conflict took such a violent a turn. Written by two esteemed Revolutionary War historians, \u003ci\u003eWar Without Mercy \u003c\/i\u003edoes exactly that. Based on years of research and enlivened by little known primary sources, this is an intriguing and fresh look at a period of history we thought we knew.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Bloomsbury USA","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51742568841559,"sku":"9781472872678","price":25.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781472872678.jpg?v=1758385286","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/war-without-mercy-9781472872678","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}