Hi Dan
Thank you for the welcome and the kind words regarding my forum and blog! 🙂
Sadly the American Revolution seems to have drifted from the minds of most people in the UK, I don’t think it is even on the school curriculum anymore, or at least not in any depth. However, there will of course be those who go on to study history at University who will examine it in greater detail. I am not sure why it gets so little attention here, possible due to the fact it was a major defeat for Britain, and countries tend to remember the victories rather than their defeats. That said the Seven Years’ War, which as you know held many tremendous victories for Britain, is also largely forgotten by the majority of the British public. Certainly at the time of the loss of the American colonies the British looked to India instead, and I have often wondered if Britain would have been so active in the conquest of the Indian states if North America was still under the Crown. Perhaps it is from 1780s onwards that Britain began forgetting?
The Napoleonic Wars remain popular amongst British historians, as does much of the Victorian period, and of course both World Wars. I began my interest in military history in WW2 when I was a teenager, since then I have progressively been working my way back to the ealry 1700s. I doubt I will go any earlier than the time of Marlborough, rather I would like to gain a better understanding of conflicts such as the American Revolution and Seven Years’ War etc.
One aspect of forums such as this I particularly enjoy is that members come from different countries. That way you are exposed far more to the different views of the conflict, and thus a better overall understanding. It looks like I will be reaching for some of my American Revolution books from the shelves of my home library very shortly!
Mark