‘New kind of book’ discusses The Battle Of Flamborough Head
A ‘new kind of history book’ covering the Battle of Flamborough Head has been published.
“Let’s Discuss The Battle Of Flamborough Head” is written by David Newton.
This account of the most famous battle of John Paul Jones, the Father of the American Navy, turns traditional history writing on its head.
The battle, which took place off the Yorkshire coast in 1779, is considered by many to have turned the tide of the American War of Independence.
Most accounts of the battle have taken the account by Jones as their starting point and pay little attention to other eyewitness accounts.
Mr Newton said: “I found it frustrating that all the accounts I read about this battle would give snippets of the original accounts and would direct the story in a particular direction.
“Unfortunately they would often ignore most of the eyewitness accounts that didn’t fit into the story the writer wanted to tell, preferring the exaggerated and more dramatic memories of old men looking back five, 10 or even 30 years later.”
With access to many of the original accounts for his own research, through archives readily available in the 21st Century, Mr Newton placed all the letters, from the first two months around the battle, in the order in which they were written.
He then added his own observations on each letter. From there it was a short step to leaving space for a reader to make their own comments and observations.
The Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing system prints to order.
If people see things that he has missed or have information and letters that are not included they can email him so future editions can include the reader’s views.
Mr Newton added: “Although my working life involved a lot of historical and literary research I’m not a professional historian. So I wouldn’t pretend to have all the answers.
“In this book I offer the original documents to the reader for them to make their own mind up about what actually happened in the Battle of Flamborough Head.”
Mr Newton is a retired Baptist Minister who lives in Filey where the battle took place. During the summer he tells the story, in costume, of the battle at events along the Yorkshire Coast.
Let’s Discuss The Battle Of Flamborough Head is available on Amazon in paperback (£8), on Kindle (£3) or free via Kindle Unlimited.