While many books have been written on the naval history of the Revolution, this is one of the first to treat it in its entirety as an Atlantic-wide conflict. While its geographical scope is vast, it features overlooked aspects of the war in which sloops and barges fought, actions which proved to be as decisive as the familiar ship of the line confrontations. It is also history from the bottom up, emphasizing the role of the crew as much the not always heroic officers. From naval perspective the rebellious colonies did not gain a military victory, though Benjamin Franklin was able to secure their independence at the peace table in Europe. The final chapter on the Royal Navy's evacuation of white and black loyalists, will be examined in more detail in the author's forthcoming Pen & Sword book.

The Battle of Saratoga in 1777 ended with British general John Burgoyne's troops surrendering to the American rebel army commanded by General Horatio Gates. Historians have long seen Burgoyne's defeat as a turning point in the American Revolution because it convinced France to join the war on the side of the colonies, thus ensuring American victory. But that traditional view of Saratoga overlooks the complexity of the situation on the ground. Setting the battle in its social and political context, Theodore Corbett examines Saratoga and its aftermath as part of ongoing conflicts among the settlers of the Hudson and Champlain valleys of New York, Canada, and Vermont. This long, more local view reveals that the American victory actually resolved very little.
In transcending traditional military history, Corbett examines the roles not only of enlisted Patriot and Redcoat soldiers but also of landowners, tenant farmers, townspeople, American Indians, Loyalists, and African Americans. He begins the story in the 1760s, when the first large influx of white settlers arrived in the New York and New England backcountry. Ethnic and religious strife marked relations among the colonists from the outset. Conflicting claims issued by New York and New Hampshire to the area that eventually became Vermont turned the skirmishes into a veritable civil war.
These pre-Revolution conflicts--which determined allegiances during the Revolution--were not affected by the military outcome of the Battle of Saratoga. After Burgoyne's defeat, the British retained control of the upper Hudson-Champlain valley and mobilized Loyalists and Native allies to continue successful raids there even after the Revolution. The civil strife among the colonists continued into the 1780s, as the American victory gave way to violent strife amounting to class warfare. Corbett ends his story with conflicts over debt in Vermont, New Hampshire, and finally Massachusetts, where the sack of Stockbridge--part of Shays's Rebellion in 1787--was the last of the civil disruptions that had roiled the landscape for the previous twenty years.
"No Turning Point "complicates and enriches our understanding of the difficult birth of the United States as a nation.

"Corbett's work makes a welcome addition to the regional history of upstate New York as well as the exploding interest in American resorts. Corbett's book . . . not only summarizes more recent work but adds new perspectives on the built environment, the make-up of the visitors, the role of women, and the nuts and bolts of resort development. . . . An indispensable work for anyone broadly interested in the history of leisure it he early republic, or upstate New York resorts in particular. Certainly, no one with an interest in the history of Saratoga Springs will be able to do without it."-New York History "Corbett takes readers on a grand trip into the history of three upstate New York resorts communities, Ballston Spa, Caldwell at Lake George and Saratoga Springs. Ballston Spa and Caldwell on Lake George were products of land developers who saw tourism as a way to success. But neither town invested in the infrastructure to make tourism work. Saratoga Springs did provide the amenities, with lavish hotels amid parks and pleasure gardens. It was also blessed with a strong work force, particularly in the numbers of Irish women ready to staff the resorts."-Waterbury Republican (CT) "Corbett cuts through the nostalgic haze and localized thought surrounding usual resort histories with the searching investigations and rigorous scholarship we have come to expect from the very best of modern urban studies."-Ellen Weiss, author of City in the Woods: The Life and Design of an American Camp Meeting on Martha's Vineyard "A book notable for its attention to the development of the infrastructure of resorts-hotels and boarding houses, public spaces, and service facilities-as well as the African American and Irish women and men whose labors supported the leisure of visitors." - David Schuyler, Franklin & Marshall College How did the rise of lavish hotels and spas reflect the changing values of American society during the nineteenth century? Historians have argued that resorts were created to meet the demands of a leisured social elite. Theodore Corbett demonstrates that resorts created and re-created themselves to keep pace with changing times. Success came with anticipating demands, not just reacting to them Corbett focuses on the conditions underlying the rise-and demise-of the resorts at Ballston Spa and Caldwell on Lake George. Both towns' major landlord-developers saw tourism as only one vehicle that could lead to success. As a result of their divided policies, neither town invested in the proper infrastructure to make tourism work. Saratoga Springs, however, was able to supply the amenities needed to attract the well-heeled. The town provided visitors with lavish hotels, parks, and pleasure gardens. It also had a workforce that was available for the five-month period per year that the spas were active. Corbett examines the participation of African Americans, Irish, and Native Americans in the resort's service sector The book also stresses middle-class America's emulation of the leisure habits of the English aristocracy. Even though these pursuits (hunting and horse racing) were dominated by men, social rituals were dominated by women, and resorts that accommodated "public domesticity" thrived as the century progressed. Theodore Corbett teaches history at Adirondack Community College and is former director of the Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation.