1776
1776 (Thorndike Press Large Print Nonfiction Series) David McCullough,
Publisher: Thorndike Press
ISBN: 0786276231
Edition: Hardcover; 2005-06-23
Summary:
Esteemed historian David McCullough covers the military side of the
momentous year of 1776 with characteristic insight and a gripping
narrative, adding new scholarship and a fresh perspective to the
beginning of the American Revolution. It was a turbulent and
confusing time. As British and American politicians struggled to
reach a compromise, events on the ground escalated until war was
inevitable. McCullough writes vividly about the dismal conditions
that troops on both sides had to endure, including an unusually harsh
winter, and the role that luck and the whims of the weather played in
helping the colonial forces hold off the world's greatest army. He
also effectively explores the importance of motivation and troop
morale--a tie was as good as a win to the Americans, while anything
short of overwhelming victory was disheartening to the British, who
expected a swift end to the war. The redcoat retreat from Boston, for
example, was particularly humiliating for the British, while the
minor American victory at Trenton was magnified despite its limited
strategic importance. Some of the strongest passages in 1776 are the
revealing and well-rounded portraits of the Georges on both sides of
the Atlantic. King George III, so often portrayed as a bumbling,
arrogant fool, is given a more thoughtful treatment by McCullough,
who shows that the king considered the colonists to be petulant
subjects without legitimate grievances--an attitude that led him to
underestimate the will and capabilities of the Americans. At times he
seems shocked that war was even necessary. The great Washington lives
up to his considerable reputation in these pages, and McCullough
relies on private correspondence to balance the man and the myth,
revealing how deeply concerned Washington was about the Americans'
chances for victory, despite his public optimism. Perhaps more than
any other man, he realized how fortunate they were to merely survive
the year, and he willingly lays the responsibility for their good
fortune in the hands of God rather than his own. Enthralling and
superbly written, 1776 is the work of a master historian. --Shawn
Carkonen The Other 1776 With his riveting, enlightening accounts of
subjects from Johnstown Flood to John Adams, David McCullough has
become the historian that Americans look to most to tell us our own
story. In his Amazon.com interview, McCullough explains why he turned
in his new book from the political battles of the Revolution to the
battles on the ground, and he marvels at some of his favorite young
citizen soldiers who fought alongside the remarkable General
Washington. The Essential David McCullough John Adams Truman Mornings
on Horseback The Path Between the Seas The Great Bridge The Johnstown
Flood More Reading on the Revolution The Great Improvisation by Stacy
Schiff Washington's Crossing by David Hackett Fischer His Excellency:
George Washington by Joseph J. Ellis Washington's General by Terry
Golway Iron Tears by Stanley Weintraub Victory at Yorktown by Richard
M. Ketchum
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