Randall, Willard Sterne

This accessible, concise, yet informative work would benefit from a conclusion summarizing Randall’s observations. It will appeal to general readers and academics.

For general readers interested in an overview of the War of 1812. Historians and specialists should seek more comprehensive works.

The relaxed narrative is supported by valuable primary documents and secondary sources, but Randall ignores Michael Bellesiles's Revolutionary Outlaws: Ethan Allen and the Struggle for Independence on the Early American Frontier (1993). Of greater concern, upon viewing the first submitted galley for the book, LJ pointed out to the publisher that certain passages closely followed Charles Jellison's Ethan Allen: Frontier Rebel (1969). The book has since been revised for publication, yet the new version still contains some passages that echo Jellison's narrative patterns. Nonetheless, this biography of a larger-than-life adventurer and flawed hero will be enjoyed by readers of popular histories about the country's early years, and by serious researchers in Vermont, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and New York history.