text: I, too, have an MA in American History, and I was never given reason to think about each of two questions raised by this important book. Firstly and fundamentally, what was the timetable by which the British military were expected to leave the former colonies, and, second, what "property" could they take with them, especially as "property" had a very particular meaning here in the new nation? 
  Was the Revolution in large part fought to maintain slavery? That surely bears on the problematic nature of our Constitution.
  The wonderfully gifted writer and historian (would that they were always the same thing!)poses these vital questions. And we are fortunate that the near simultaneous publication of David B. Davis' Inhuman Bondage complements this fine effort. So, as one reviewer suggests, it is in some ways an overwritten period, but Schama and Davis add something new and exciting to the dialogue. My thanks
  