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The Howe Dynasty: The Untold Story of a Military Family and the Women Behind Britain's Wars for America Hardcover – July 20, 2021

by Julie Flavell (Author)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 91 ratings
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Finalist • George Washington Book Prize
New York Times Book Review • Editors’ Choice

Finally revealing the family’s indefatigable women among its legendary military figures, The Howe Dynasty recasts the British side of the American Revolution.

In December 1774, Benjamin Franklin met Caroline Howe, the sister of British General Sir William Howe and Richard Admiral Lord Howe, in a London drawing room for “half a dozen Games of Chess.” But as historian Julie Flavell reveals, these meetings were about much more than board games: they were cover for a last-ditch attempt to forestall the outbreak of the American War of Independence.

Aware that the distinguished Howe family, both the men and the women, have been known solely for the military exploits of the brothers, Flavell investigated the letters of Caroline Howe, which have been blatantly overlooked since the nineteenth century. Using revelatory documents and this correspondence, The Howe Dynasty provides a groundbreaking reinterpretation of one of England’s most famous military families across four wars.

Contemporaries considered the Howes impenetrable and intensely private―or, as Horace Walpole called them, “brave and silent.” Flavell traces their roots to modest beginnings at Langar Hall in rural Nottinghamshire and highlights the Georgian phenomenon of the politically involved aristocratic woman. In fact, the early careers of the brothers―George, Richard, and William―can be credited not to the maneuverings of their father, Scrope Lord Howe, but to those of their aunt, the savvy Mary Herbert Countess Pembroke. When eldest sister Caroline came of age during the reign of King George III, she too used her intimacy with the royal inner circle to promote her brothers, moving smoothly between a straitlaced court and an increasingly scandalous London high life.

With genuine suspense, Flavell skillfully recounts the most notable episodes of the brothers’ military campaigns: how Richard, commanding the HMS Dunkirk in 1755, fired the first shot signaling the beginning of the Seven Years’ War at sea; how George won the devotion of the American fighters he commanded at Fort Ticonderoga just three years later; and how youngest brother General William Howe, his sympathies torn, nonetheless commanded his troops to a bitter Pyrrhic victory in the Battle of Bunker Hill, only to be vilified for his failure as British commander-in-chief to subdue Washington’s Continental Army.

Britain’s desperate battles to guard its most vaunted colonial possession are here told in tandem with London parlor-room intrigues, where Caroline bravely fought to protect the Howe reputation in a gossipy aristocratic milieu. A riveting narrative and long overdue reassessment of the entire family, The Howe Dynasty forces us to reimagine the Revolutionary War in ways that would have been previously inconceivable. 8-page color insert, black-and-white illustrations throughout
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  1. Print length
    480 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Liveright
  4. Publication date
    July 20, 2021
  5. Dimensions
    6.5 x 1.5 x 9.6 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1631490613
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1631490613
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

""The Howe story is more compelling than the stupid redcoats caricature that has persisted for more than two centuries, as Julie Flavell demonstrates in 'The Howe Dynasty,' her vibrant biography of the accomplished, beguiling family. . . . The Howes have long been opaque and even inscrutable. Flavell’s scholarship and deft storytelling add nuance, sympathy and granularity to the family portrait.""
― Rick Atkinson, New York Times Book Review

"A richly detailed and lively saga of one of its most distinguished families. Challenging and insightful, it reflects impressive scholarship, grounded in exhaustive archival research on both sides of the Atlantic.... The Howe Dynasty shows how women whose supreme function in life was to produce male heirs could nonetheless find a voice through informal “networking,” establishing crucial contacts in the drawing room or on the hunting field that could be mobilized to secure favors and control opinion."
― Stephen Brumwell, Wall Street Journal

"Vivid and compelling. . . . Combining military analysis with an effective use of heretofore ignored sources, she brings together the domestic sphere and the military sphere to form an original and more complete picture of a fascinating family."
― Barbara Spindel, Christian Science Monitor

"Flavell deftly weaves together social, political, and military history and presents a whole picture of the Howe family that discredits some of the criticism of the Howes while elevating the value put upon history as told from a woman’s perspective."
― Kelly Mielke, Journal of the American Revolution

"In this brilliantly conceived and vividly written biography . . . Flavell skillfully alternates vivid descriptions of overseas battles with developments in England, and brings new insights to William’s alleged affair with the 'captivating Bostonian' Elizabeth Lloyd Loring. History buffs won’t want to miss this richly textured account."
― Publishers Weekly, starred review

"[A]s the Revolutionary War nears, the narrative gains―and retains―a momentum that effectively turns a group biography into a swiftly paced history of the war and its aftermath . . . The author offers much for historians to argue about and plenty for patient readers to enjoy. An intelligent, sympathetic portrait that challenges popular views of the Howe family."
― Kirkus Reviews

"Full of detail and intrigue, the narrative is illustrated with vivid portraits of extended family members and maps of military engagements. This engaging popular history stands apart for its different perspective of the British side of the American Revolution and the Howe family’s involvement in peace efforts."
― Stacy Shaw, Library Journal

From the Back Cover

“If real power is to be ‘in the room where it happened,’ then the Howe family had it all and more. . . . Julie Flavell not only brings the Howes to life, she makes us love them, scold them, forgive them, and ultimately root for every member to succeed. History is rarely such fun.”
―Amanda Foreman, author of Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshire

“William and Richard Howe were two of the most controversial British commanders during the American Revolution. . . . Until now, historians have been unable to recover their role in the story because their correspondence was destroyed in a nineteenth-century fire. Julie Flavell has come close to doing so by exploring the vast correspondence of their formidable sister, Caroline Howe. The result is a highly readable record from inside the Howe family of the political and military story, told from a woman’s perspective.”
―Joseph J. Ellis, author of American Dialogue: The Founders and Us

“Innovatively combining attention to women’s drawing-room culture with military history, Julie Flavell effectively defends the Howe brothers from critics, both their own contemporaries and modern historians. Scholars of the Revolution will find this book eye-opening.”
―Mary Beth Norton, author of 1774: The Long Year of Revolution

“The Howe Dynasty offers new insights into the Howe brothers, the most inscrutable of the British commanders in the American Revolutionary War. . . . This is one of the best and most compelling accounts of the role and influence of women in eighteenth-century Britain.”
―Andrew Jackson O’Shaughnessy, author of The Men Who Lost America: British Leadership, the American Revolution, and the Fate of the Empire

“Completely enthralling, wonderfully well written, and like Caroline Howe herself, wise and witty in equal measures, this story of extraordinary women and stoical, driven men is a triumph and, even more important, a delight.”
―Trevor Burnard, Wilberforce Professor of Slavery and Emancipation, University of Hull

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Liveright; First Edition (July 20, 2021)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 480 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1631490613
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1631490613
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.85 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.5 x 1.5 x 9.6 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 91 ratings

About the author

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Julie Flavell

Julie Flavell

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I was born in the United States and grew up in Massachusetts, where I acquired a life-long interest in the American Revolution. After graduating from Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania, I gained my PhD in history at University College London. I was elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society in 1999. I now live in Scotland with my husband, who is British. I have lectured in American history at Dundee and Edinburgh Universities, where I specialized in the Revolutionary era.

A lifetime spent toggling between America and the UK has led me to ponder exactly when and how Britons and Americans began to think of themselves as separate peoples. My first book, "When London Was Capital of America", explores the period just before the American Revolution through the experiences of individual colonists in London, and shows that Americans still saw themselves as British - and were seen as such in their capital city - right up to the start of the American Revolution. Despite this, my book also reveals that America's British heritage is not a simple story of Anglo-Saxon roots. Seen through London eyes, the American colonists were a very diverse people who came from all parts of the Eighteenth century British empire, including Africa.

It was in quest of material for a sequel about London during the American Revolution that I came across the letters of Caroline Howe in the British Library. The men of the Howe family were Anglo-American heroes by the end of the Seven Years’ War in 1763. The story of how, just twelve years later, their role in the American Revolution transformed them into foreigners in a land they had spilt their blood to defend is told powerfully through the medium of family history. "The Howe Dynasty" radically recasts the American War of Independence as a civil war by telling it through the eyes of the Howe women.

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
91 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Basil Argyros
5.0 out of 5 stars Superb parallel biography and period history
Reviewed in the United States on August 7, 2021
Verified Purchase
Julie Flavell has written a painstakingly researched, eminently readable history of an important 18th-century British elite family, with many useful insights into the Georgian period. It is both well-written, and well-edited for content and copy -- I noted but a single typo in the book, a wonder in this age of sloppy editing. It focuses on the important role of the Howe women in the history of the family dynasty, and is mercifully free of contemporary trendiness -- this is a study that will wear well over time. Truly, one of best-executed British histories I have read in many years -- kudos to Flavell!
6 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent !!!
Reviewed in the United States on December 5, 2023
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part of my families history
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RobRoy
4.0 out of 5 stars Time capsule
Reviewed in the United States on August 18, 2021
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Good book, insightful, fine illustrations, well written, well edited. The American Revolution seen through the eyes of English aristocrats, both hawks & doves. Caroline Howe is central figure, indomitable, gregarious, high-stakes gambler at cards. Caroline leaned out of the Howe carriage to berate hecklers in London streets. The Howe boys joined the military, served in parliament, and liked America to their detriment, Wm Howe adultery rumor is examined factually. Author skillfully introduces numerous people, explains their backgrounds, refreshes characters upon reappearance. The pace is surprisingly brisk. Excerpted letters provide color, Horace Walpole’s acerbic comments add spice.

Battles are described briefly along with consequences, strategic mistakes highlighted … British neglected to appoint an onsite viceroy, the Saratoga debacle stemmed from assumption that Colonists could field but one single army. Media & bureaucrats undermined British war effort: 140 English newspapers wallowed in yellow-journalism rather than rational reporting while bungling Secretary of State disparaged his generals thru press leaks.

Minor shortcomings. 1) Did Britain ostracize Clinton & Cornwallis after Yorktown, like Howe earlier? 2) No mention of Admiral Howe's prize money wealth from captured ships. 3) Merely 59 words about atrocities: Wm Howe declared himself hurt by dogged accusations. (In fact, during Howe’s New York campaign & occupation, surrendering rebels were bayonetted, officers reproached for sparing rebels, foraging parties pillaged & raped. More Americans (11,500) died in hellish East River prison hulks than all battles, ironically while Howe was rumored to seduce his prison commissioner’s wife). Was mistreatment ignored in 18th century newspapers & letters? Perhaps, inasmuch as Duke of Cumberland was glorified for butchering the Scottish Highlands only 30 years before.
6 people found this helpful
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Book Lover
5.0 out of 5 stars Go England
Reviewed in the United States on July 23, 2021
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This is a hilarious history of how England went in four centuries from the leading plunderers, slave traders, pirates and dope dealers of the world to today's top money launderers for tax cheats and kleptocrats. It was the women, who knew. I've only read one page, which had about 15 Lady This's and Lord Thats. Thanks for sending us the Howe brothers. From an affectionate American cousin.
7 people found this helpful
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Ronald
5.0 out of 5 stars Detailed and intimate story of the Howe family
Reviewed in the United States on August 30, 2021
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Throughly researched and compellingly written, Flavell's new book on the men and women Howe family is a treasure!
2 people found this helpful
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Robert Marshall
5.0 out of 5 stars Unique perspective on history.
Reviewed in the United States on September 4, 2021
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The book covered material I had never seen before.
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fyylshxfgel
4.0 out of 5 stars Gossipy, enjoyable account of the Howe Dynasty, light on their military exploits
Reviewed in the United States on July 26, 2021
Verified Purchase
I enjoyed this well-written book on the Howe Dynasty, but i was hoping for more insight on the impact General William and brother Admiral Richard had on the American Revolution. Most of the book focused on how the Howe women maneuvered behind the scenes in English courts and salons to advance the careers of these controversial brothers. At times, the narrative dwells on the numerous affairs and intrigues behind the scenes, and scant attention on the military campaigns which became William and Richard's legacy. The author goes to great, and I must say somewhat persuasive lengths to defend the brothers' reputations. Her sources consist primarily of letters and diaries from the female side of the family, as the brothers' letters were largely destroyed in a fire after their deaths. But for those looking for greater insight into the military campaigns during the early years from 1776-1777, you will be disappointed. What military narrative there is, concentrates on William's efforts to corral and defeat General George Washington from the Battle of Brooklyn to the Battle of Brandywine, two of his greatest, yet inconclusive victories. Brother Richard stays in the shadows of this book, as the fleet commander and peace envoy, shuttling Willam's army from Halifax to Boston to New York and finally to Philadelphia via the Chesapeake. Scant mention is made of the Admiral's greatest naval victory, The Glorious First of June in 1794. An entire chapter is devoted to William's alleged affair with Loyalist Betsey Loring, attempting to debunk the widely-held belief that the promiscuous Ms. Loring carried on with Sir William, distracting him from his military duties. Lord Germain the hawkish minister who directed the war from London comes off as the villain which will surprise no one familiar with war, an intriguer who used the press to point the finger at the Howe family for Britain's defeat. In sum, I found this to be an entertaining account of a controversial English family, but lacking in enough detail to support the author's defense of the Howe brothers. I hope to see more from this excellent writer!
9 people found this helpful
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