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Anglo-American Attitudes: From Revolution to Partnership. Ed. by Fred M. Leventhal and Roland Quinault. (Aldershot, Eng.: Ashgate, 2000. xii, 313 pp. $84.95, ISBN 0-7546-00300.)
A compilation of fifteen essays covering the period from the American Revolution to the 1990s, Anglo-American Attitudes seeks to divert the story of Anglo-American relations from a traditional, twentieth-century, diplomatic focus. Its contributing authors and editors, all senior scholars well known in British studies, consider topics ranging from the end of salutary neglect in the colonies to the political power of Irish Americans to the waxing and waning of trade and finance between Britain and the United States. Unfortunately, while the quality of some of the essays is excellent, in others the case for a comparative framework is lacking, the research is not firmly based in primary sources, or the focus is so specific that it holds little relevance for a wider audience.
The best essays consider British self-presentation over the long term; this could have been the theme of a more tightly constructed volume. Eliga Gould finds the surrender of Gen. John Burgoyne at Saratoga...