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Friday, February 19, 2010

Local Author Brings Revolutionary War to Life (Audra E. Clark, Valley Breeze)

(By AUDRA E. CLARK, Valley Breeze Staff Writer)

Revolutionary War re-enactor Norman Desmarais, of Lincoln, traveled all over the county and England while researching his new book on the American War of Independence.

"My goal was to write a comprehensive, if not exhaustive, history of the American Revolution," said Desmarais.
"The Guide to the American Revolutionary War in Canada and New England" is being published this year by Busca Incorporated.
The book is meant to be the first in a multi-volume series. Desmarais spent the last 12 years on research for the series and it took him up and down the Eastern seaboard and even to England.
According to Desmarias, his research took him to England to examine the archives over there and visit Lord Nelson's ship, the HMS Victory.
While in England, Desmarias took a tour of Bath.
"On the tour they showed the home of Major André. The British didn't know his first name, and I said his name is John," said Desmarais. "They asked what I knew of John André. I talked about how he knew Benedict Arnold's wife and how they got Arnold to betray West Point, and so they turned the tour over to me."
Desmarais' book gives the location and important facts on 403 Revolutionary War battles, raids, and skirmishes in New England and Canada.
Many of the battles described in the book are accompanied by photos of any remaining landmarks or evidence of Revolutionary War forts and battles. Most of the photos were taken by Desmarais during his travels.
As he flips through his book, Desmarais points to a photo of a stone and says that it is the only way that this particular battle field can be identified.
"There are so many unmarked battlefields that people walk past or hike past and don't even know what they are seeing," said Desmarais. "Even the people who live in the town might not know it's there."
According to Desmarais, all that's left of the defenses from the battle in Charleston, S.C., is a section of tabby wall.
"I was at the Francis Marion Hotel in Charleston and I told the people staying there that they didn't realize it, but they were standing on a battlefield," said Desmarais.
The book's chapters are divided by state, and at the beginning of each chapter is a modern map of the state with a mark for each battle detailed in that chapter.
According to Desmarais, he never would have written "The Guide to the American Revolutionary War in Canada and New England" if he was not a re-enactor. Desmarais has been a member of the 2nd Rhode Island Regiment for 14 years.
"Re-enactiong gives you a deeper appreciation of history," said Desmarais. "You get to feel a lot of the emotions and stresses that our ancestors felt."
Desmarais said that participating in re-enactments took him to many of the places he eventually wrote about in his book.
"What happened here?" That is the question Desmarais said he would hear re-enactors asking each other at battlefields. "I thought that if re-enactors aren't aware of it, then the general public certainly isn't aware if it," said Desmarais.
He wrote the book intending it to be a good informational tool for re-enactors, historians, genealogists trying to trace their ancestors to the Revolutionary War, local historical societies and the general public interested in history.
Desmarais' next volume will be on the battles of New York state. "The Guide to the American Revolutionary War in Canada and New England" is fully footnoted from research of original sources including diaries and pension records.
The book is available from publisher, Busca Incorporated, and at normd@providence.edu.
SDLqThis is a war that we could have easily lost, and if we had, I imagine we could still be British citizens today," said Desmarais. "People seem to think that our winning the war was a forgone conclusion, but it wasn't."
http://www.valleybreeze.com/Free/ENT-MAIN-Rev--War-Author-w-pic-clone

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Springer US Titles

Springer US has provided Busca with new lists of their titles. You can view the Word document files on our Other Publishers page next to Springer US’s main entry.

If you are a publisher and would like us to list your titles, please contact Busca.