When General John Burgoyne ("Gentlemanly Johnny") capitulated with his army to the American rebels under Horatio Gates in October 1777, it meant the American War of Independence was virtually decided. Up to that, the rebels had scarcely won a battle of note and seemed out of their depth against professional infantry (incidentally, a high proportion of the nominally English troops were, in fact, German mercenaries). Saratoga has become virtually synonymous with American independence, though it was not the end of the war; it brought in France and Spain as allies against England, which more or less sealed the issue. The campaign itself was mainly a slogging affair of attrition and logistics, and though this book tries hard, there is curiously little drama about the narrative.