A PECULIAR SERVICE.
By Corey Ford'21 Ad. Boston: Little, Brown & Co.,1965. 358 pp. $6.75.
Judging from our experience with the Civil War centennial, we can expect a wave of literature in the next decade about the American Revolution. Both professional and amateur historians have already begun to produce works for the market expected to develop as the bicentennial of the struggle for independence approaches. Corey Ford's A Peculiar Service, a thorough and lively account of rebel espionage in and around British-occupied Manhattan during the Revolution, should serve this market well.
In the first place, as Columbia historian Richard Morris notes in his enthusiastic introduction, "A Peculiar Service reads like exciting fiction." This stems, in part, from the subject itself: a tale of spying which involves Nathan Hale, Major John Andre, Benedict Arnold and a variety of less famous but equally colorful figures possesses automatic appeal in an age when secret agents have become culture heros. And Ford takes full advantage of his opportunity. His style is energetic, his descriptions vivid, and his interpretations of events and personalities both dramatic and imaginative.
Furthermore, Ford does not allow the paucity of concrete evidence about the Culper Ring (the code name of the Manhattan agency) to disrupt his narrative. He makes full and judicious use of all known documents, and, when documents are lacking, utilizes his thorough knowledge of the general circumstances in which the ring operated to construct as plausible a narrative as he can. Indeed, although some readers may object to Ford's technique of amplification, the major accomplishment of the book is his construction of such a detailed and convincing narrative from sparse material.
There is a second reason why A PeculiarService should appeal to many revolutionary buffs. Ford is proud of the rebellion and makes little effort to disguise his sympathy for the men who made it successful. Nathan Hale, executed for spying on the British, is described as "welcoming martyrdom as a fitting climax to a dedicated career." Throughout the book Ford tends to treat the members of the Culper Ring as folk heroes. Those who opposed the revolution fare less well. When Andre is executed, Ford feels obliged to label the British officer's fate "admittedly just." At one point the commander in New York is pictured as "paralyzed with fear" of an American attack. Ford, even though he states that both sides can be charged with brutality, emphasizes in his writing the horrors perpetrated by the British. Thus the tone of A PeculiarService is in keeping with the retrospective patriotism which characterizes much popular literature about the revolution.
Assistant Professor of History
