In Irons: Britain's Naval Supremacy and the American Revolutionary Economy

In Irons: Britain's Naval Supremacy and the American Revolutionary Economy. By RICHARD BUEL, JR. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1998. xi, 397 pp. $35.00.

THIS study of the American economy during the Revolutionary War takes its title from an old sailing expression referring to a ship that is caught in the wind so that it loses its ability to steer. The author sees the stalled vessel as a metaphor for American commerce throughout most of the war. The trade that was such a valuable asset of the British colonies before independence was unable to support the fiscal needs of the new states, just as the formerly bountiful agricultural economy proved unable to supply the demands of the American military forces and their allies. This deeply researched and far-ranging book seeks to explore the role of commerce in the transition to independence. The result is far more ambitious and significant than the subtitle might suggest. British naval supremacy certainly...