1776
by David McCullough
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Book Summary Information
Author: David McCulloughEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2006-06-27
ISBN: 0743226720
Number of pages: 400
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780743226721
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
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Book Reviews of 1776
Book Review: Inspiring account of the most trying year of newborn American patriotism
Summary: 5 Stars
Days after Thomas Paine joined George Washington's Constitutional Army in late 1776 he realized the terrifying situation the army was really in. As he observed the loss, confusion, filth, distress, and hopelessness on the faces of the men who had the resolve to stick with Washington, he appreciated their steadfast loyalty and determination: "These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will in this crisis shrink from the service of their country. But he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of every man and woman."
As the title indicates, David McCullough's "1776" focuses on the year our founding fathers declared independence from the British. As I began reading, I felt I knew what to expect based on my basic education in American history. I figured the book would be more detailed retelling of the important revolutionary battles and the writing of the Declaration of Independence, but while these expectations were generally accurate, they didn't wholly encompass the historical nirvana I was about to experience. McCullough never simply retold history with more detail. Rather, he did so with unique, suspenseful storytelling that put the war in a specific lens that shifted from a fight for accommodation to a fight for separation from Britain altogether. He hopes to show that 1776 was an important year for America not just because independence became a priority, but because Washington's army overcame the constant defeat and desertion that overwhelmed them during the first, crucial fights of the war. McCullough succeeds in emphasizing their steadfastness, but does an even better job at illustrating the power that steadfastness has in a time of war and, more importantly, in a struggle for liberty and independence.
While a general overview of the political workings with the Americans in Philadelphia and the British in London is given, the book is told primarily from the grounds of the blood and sweat - the various battlefields. The book is told in three parts, focusing on the three major military events that occurred that year: the Siege of Boston, the Battle of Long Island, and the Battle of Trenton. While he discusses the many subsequent battles that take place, McCullough writes the book as though these are factors or products of the three main events. Most probably know the main happenings of these events, but through compelling narrative and personal (and factual) storytelling McCullough brings the battles to life.
Storytelling perspective drifts back and forth between the armies, although most time is discussing the American camp. McCullough provides source material from journals to serve as both dialogue and commentary. The extensive amount of material used is impressive and effective, giving the reader a clear and true look at how the key players thought, spoke, and interacted with each other at the time. There is some indescribable force and power in hearing exact words from the day, from hearing the anger and power in Washington's commands to the somber, saddening diaries of war torn soldiers. On the American side, McCullough focuses primarily on George Washington, Nathanael Greene, Henry Knox, and Charles Lee; on the British side, he focuses mostly on generals William Howe, Charles Cornwallis, and Henry Clinton. McCullough's narrative style in writing about these characters is similar to an accomplished novelist. By the time I finished the book, McCullough had created such realistic landscapes and situations by weaving in between actual source dialogue and description that I felt I knew all of these important figures and places personally.
While most of events in the book are "downers" in terms of American success, the book finishes with the American success at Trenton, and McCullough begins to write with a more optimistic tone. Respect in Washington is restored among the troops and military leaders, and a beaten and discouraged army has found its passion for liberty restored and refined. If one was to ask what the difference was between McCullough's historical account of the Revolutionary War and that of our standard high school history books, it may be helpful to reread the Thomas Paine quote I began this review with. McCullough shows the landscape that Paine was so startled by: the initial energy and fervor torn and beaten down to eyes filled with fear of death, destruction, and devastation. Throughout the book I felt I was beginning to understand first-hand what it felt like to have a thirst for freedom wrought dry and cracked by human desolation and psychological and emotional famine of war.
Once again, McCullough's purpose in showing this hopelessness the Americans faced is not to discourage or thwart those who have a fire to fight for their liberty, but rather to show that wars are never easily won, especially when all seems lost. In a time when our country seems faced with odds unimaginable this book gives one the inspiration to step away from society like Washington did and stop dwelling in defeat and hopelessness. It would do every American good to read this account of a people who rose to the challenges of their time - a people who persistently gathered up the courage to battle the opponents of individual liberty to the end.
Summary of 1776
In this masterful book, David McCullough tells the intensely human story of those who marched with General George Washington in the year of the Declaration of Independence -- when the whole American cause was riding on their success, without which all hope for independence would have been dashed and the noble ideals of the Declaration would have amounted to little more than words on paper.Based on extensive research in both American and British archives, 1776 is a powerful drama written with extraordinary narrative vitality. It is the story of Americans in the ranks, men of every shape, size, and color, farmers, schoolteachers, shoemakers, no-accounts, and mere boys turned soldiers. And it is the story of the King's men, the British commander, William Howe, and his highly disciplined redcoats who looked on their rebel foes with contempt and fought with a valor too little known.
At the center of the drama, with Washington, are two young American patriots, who, at first, knew no more of war than what they had read in books -- Nathanael Greene, a Quaker who was made a general at thirty-three, and Henry Knox, a twenty-five-year-old bookseller who had the preposterous idea of hauling the guns of Fort Ticonderoga overland to Boston in the dead of winter.
But it is the American commander-in-chief who stands foremost -- Washington, who had never before led an army in battle. Written as a companion work to his celebrated biography of John Adams, David McCullough's 1776 is another landmark in the literature of American history.
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.  John Adams |  Truman |  Mornings on Horseback |
 The Path Between the Seas |  The Great Bridge |  The Johnstown Flood |
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 The Great Improvisation by Stacy Schiff |  Washington's Crossing by David Hackett Fischer |  His Excellency: George Washington by Joseph J. Ellis |
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