Lord Charles Cornwallis

Children's Literature

Charles Cornwallis by Lewis K. Parker is part of the "Triangle Histories of the Revolutionary War" series. This book describes the role that Cornwallis played in the American Revolution. However, seventy-eight of the one-hundred-page book deal with the Revolutionary War. The first eighteen pages briefly discuss the early years of Cornwallis's life and the reasons for the war. That leaves three pages to tell of his post-war life (such as becoming England's representative to the court of the Prussian emperor and becoming viceroy of the British colony of India). Another problem is that the book has a definite bias, in that it is a pro-American perspective on the war even though it is written about an Englishman. However, the book is very thorough in describing each battle and strategy of the war, so that readers can understand why each decision was made. If a reader wanted to see what Cornwallis did during the Revolutionary War, or his reasoning behind war strategy, then this is an excellent choice. However, if a reader wants to learn about Charles Cornwallis as a person, there are other biographies that would present a more complete history. 2002, Blackbirch Press, Ages 8 to 12.
— Joella Peterson