Was Valley Forge really the "crucible of victory" it has come to represent in American history? Wayne Bodle offers a comprehensive history of the winter encampment of 1777-78, with a complete picture of events both inside and outside the camp boundaries.

Of the many dramatic episodes of the American Revolution, perhaps none is more steeped in legend than the Valley Forge winter. To this day schoolchildren are taught that Valley Forge was the "turning point of the Revolution"--the event that transformed a ragged group of soldiers into a fighting army. But was Valley Forge really the "crucible of victory" it has come to represent in American history? In The Valley Forge Winter, Wayne Bodle offers the first comprehensive history of the winter encampment of 1777-78. The freshness of Bodle's approach is that he offers a complete picture of events both inside and outside the camp boundaries. We see what happens when two armies descend on a diverse and divided community. Anything but stoically passive, the Continentals were effective agents on their own behalf and were actively engaged with their civilian hosts and British foes. The Valley Forge Winter is an example of the "new military history" at its best--a history that puts war back into its social context.