"The Rogue Republic"

The Rogue Republic: How Would-Be Patriots Waged the Shortest Revolution in American History (William C. Davis)

Here's a book I wanted to like. I'm always interested in the parts of history that largely go un-examined - hence my excitement to get my hands on this book, a history of how Spanish Florida came to be part of the United States in between the end of the Revolutionary war and the War of 1812. Unfortunately, I didn't find the book itself that great. I don't know if it's because of the huge cast of characters, or the author being a better historian than he is a writer, but I had a lot of trouble keeping everything straight at some points. The biggest five or six characters are fine, and the first half of the book, focusing on the guerilla war of one family versus the nervous, tottering Spanish colonial administration, is great. However, once the Spanish are overthrown and the second half of the book starts with the West Florida Republic's entire government being introduced, I had a hard time keeping who was what with the things and oh boy. This isn't helped by the second half of the book's mostly being a bureaucratic history of the republic's short-lived existence. Overall, I don't regret buying or reading this book, but it's hard to really recommend unless you're a huge nerd. Cough.

Grade: C+