This document summarizes and critiques the book "A Leap in the Dark" by John Ferling about the American Revolution. The summary argues that while the research and information in the book is excellent, the writing style makes it difficult to read with long sentences and paragraphs that create an intimidating atmosphere. It also critiques the layout of the book as a "mass of gray" with little white space that makes it hard to follow. The summary concludes that while the content of the book is a solid resource, the writing and packaging of the information could discourage casual readers and give readers headaches.

1. American Military University
Opinion Essay #1
A Leap in the Dark: The Struggle to Create the American Republic
by
John Ferling
Essay by
Nathanael Miller
HIST 551
The American Revolution in Context
Dr. Anne Venson

2. A Leap in the Dark has provoked a decidedly mixed response in my own head. I
find John Ferling’s research to be impeccable, his narrative breathtaking, and his
sentences and paragraphs way too long for easy reading. While I would not hesitate to
recommend the information in the book to anyone, I would be very cautious to whom I
actually recommend reading the book. At first glance this book looks like a very easy
read. However, within only a few pages the over-long sentences and seemingly endless
paragraphs create an intimidating atmosphere that, I think, will turn off the casual reader.
My opinion is strongly influenced by my training as a professional journalist, and
I believe it is a valid one. A Leap in the Dark strikes me as a work that was intended to
appeal to a mass audience. To succeed at reaching such a broad set of demographics, you
have to write in a very distinct style, mixing short and long sentences, and short and long
paragraphs. I think Ferling was unable to completely separate himself from the more (to
put it bluntly) long-winded approached of purely scholarly works. His tenure as a
professor of history at the State University of West Georgia certainly equips him to get
deep in the historical weeds, but it did not equip him to write with brevity.
A Leap in the Dark was published in 2003. Already by the early 21st
century we
were living in an Internet-dominated, media-saturated world with short attention spans.
To compete with the written word you have to write in a pithy, fast-paced style. Long
and short sentences create a variety that helps the reader move through the story, much as
the different peaks and twists on a roller coaster keep the ride interesting. If the roller
coaster was made up of repetitive, endless climbs followed by brief, infrequent drops and
thrills, the ride would fail. This analogy applies to writing for a mass audience.

3. In picking one paragraph at random from, page 265, I quote:
These were by far the most rancorous sessions that Congress had experienced
since it coped with the peace ulimata seven years previously. The Southern States, which
got nothing from Madrid’s offer, were opposed to the Spaniard’s tender. The Northern
States, desperate to partially offset its trade losses with the former parent state, were
favorable. In the end, Congress voted strictly along sectional lines—seven northern
states to five southern states—to make the agreement.1
Four sentences in a row. There are 22 words in the first sentence, 15 in the
second sentence, then 17, then 20. That’s an average of 18.5 words per sentence. Like
the roller coaster I eagerly board, my enthusiasm wanes during the endless climb. There
is no “payoff,” no sudden drop to pick up the pace and change up the experience. Yet the
same information can be conveyed with a much more dynamic pace:
These were by far the most rancorous sessions Congress had experienced in seven
years. The Southern States were opposed because they got nothing from Madrid’s offer.
The Northern States favored it because they were desperate to offset trade losses with
England. The final vote was along sectional lines. The seven northern states supported
the agreement, the five southern states voted against it.2
In the re-tooled version, the narrative flows much faster. In my edit, we now have
five sentences. There are 14 words in the first sentence, 12 in the second, 15 in the third
1
John Ferling, A Leap in the Dark: The Struggle to Create the American Republic. ((New York, Oxford
University Press, 2003), 265.
2
John Ferling, A Leap in the Dark: The Struggle to Create the American Republic. ((New York, Oxford
University Press, 2003), 265. *PARAPHRASED TEXT*

4. sentence, 7 words in the fourth, and 14 in the fifth sentence. That is an average of 12.4
words per sentence. To paraphrase Thomas Jefferson: never use four words when two
will do.
Another aspect that makes this book difficult to read is its “mass of gray.” In
design and layout, “gray space” is space (be it in a book, magazine, webpage, etc.) in
which printed text is so dominant that the human eye sees a literal mass of gray. No
visually appealing pattern exists to attract the eye. There is no easy way to find the start
of a paragraph or sentence. The page is just a mass of endless gray. This is not the way
to engage a reader; a mass of gray is intimidating, not inviting.
Again, picking pages at random, I opened A Leap in the Dark to pages 124-125.
Not counting the paragraph carried over from page 123, there are only four paragraphs on
these two pages. This is a classic case of a “mass of gray.” Even as a budding
professional historian, I find that if my eye slips from the line I’m on, even for a second, I
have difficulty finding my place again. In fact, it would be easier for me to find the
proverbial black bear in a blacked-out cave in the Black Forest at midnight than regain
my place on the page in A Leap in the Dark.
Glancing forward, I flipped to pages 466-467. Again, discounting the carry-over
paragraph from page 465, there are only four paragraphs over at two-page spread. The
same on pages 146-147, and pages 346-347. The book is one huge mass of gray. It is
wholly uninviting to read. A variety of long and short paragraphs helps the reader feel
they are accomplishing something by providing distinct mile markers (the changing

5. paragraphs) on the narrative’s road. Such a variety also makes it very easy to regain your
place if you have to look away from the page for a moment.
I know that a review of sentence structures, word length, and page layout is not
the expected course for an opinion essay on a scholarly work. However, I think we in the
academic world get so wrapped up in the information we are trying to convey that we
forget how we convey it carries equal weight. All of us know people who say history is
boring. This is why. The academic integrity of A Leap in the Dark is unmatched, and for
that reason alone I have found it to be a solid resource for study. However, the
“packaging” of that academic integrity (in this case, the writing), gives me a headache no
amount of “Aleve” brand pain-killers can alleviate.
There is no reason an academic work cannot be easily readable.

6. Bibliography
John Ferling, A Leap in the Dark: The Struggle to Create the American Republic. ((New
York, Oxford University Press, 2003.)