The Glorious Cause
by Jeff Shaara
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Book Summary Information
Author: Jeff ShaaraEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2003-06-03
ISBN: 0345427580
Number of pages: 704
Publisher: Fawcett
Book Reviews of The Glorious Cause
Book Review: Colonial Reality TV: hear the cannons and smell the muskets
Summary: 4 Stars
I don't know what it is about arriving at middle age that makes so many of us decide that maybe we don't hate history afterall. Perhaps it was the grammar school textbooks that used words like "thus" and "moreover" and managed to make something as relevant and exciting as history into the mental equivalent of castor oil, and we'd finally outgrown the bad taste in our mouth. I simply know this: if I could repeat my education all over again and press some cosmic "do-over" button, I'd take more history...and I'd wish a guy like Shaara authored all the textbooks.
I must admit that I enjoyed the predecessor to this book, "Rise to Rebellion" more, and I have reviewed that book elsewhere here on Amazon. This was certainly not a bad book by any stretch of the imagination. I just somehow found it less engaging, less captivating. However, don't let that observation stop you from reading this book. It is entirely intended to encourage you to read the prequel, not discourage you from reading this book - the sequel.
For those of us with a rather gilded view of America's colonial history, think of this as shock therapy - colonial reality TV. Things that are so utterly obvious in retrospect come glaringly alive in this book. For example, I don't think I'd ever fully contemplated the extent to which British "Loyalists" opened their homes to the redcoated army. It was almost as though the British were here as part of some grand sporting event to spank the upstart new expansion team and the fans for the visiting British team opened their homes and rolled out the red carpet for them (pun intended). I can't think of any historical precedent for something like this. Nor had I appreciated that the colonial army was entirely volunteer, without even a common uniform in many instances. Or that it was the world's most highly trained army against a truly rag-tag bunch of farmers who were quite literally shoeless. Or that the war drug on and on for more than half a decade. I perhaps knew these things as abstract observations, but I can't say I had ever internalized them to the degree that this book compels in its storytelling. The reader is left with a very real sense of awe at how outrageous it was for our forefathers to think they could actually succeed in their rebellion against mother England.
Shaara weaves a tale that remains painstakingly true to the historic facts, dates, routes, characters, and outcomes...even the dialog where it is known through letters and correspondence. But now we are taken inside the reality of hungry men, discouraged generals, clueless legislators, arrogant British aristocracy, and colossal blunders from both the redcoats and the blue. We emerge with a sense of not so much a war that America won, but rather a war that England lost - lost through ineptitude, pride, and chronically underwhelming responses to the "American insurrection." It was as though the British managed to snatch their own defeat from the jaws of victory time after time. I find myself in amazement at the fortitude of our forefathers, and as a Christian, I have to admit to a "Divine Hand of Providence" that seems to have caused this country to prevail despite insurmountable odds.
If you want to really immerse yourself in the reality of the Revolutionary War, and long for something more than the stale recitation of places, dates, and names that your grammar school textbook and 16mm black and white films gave you, I can think of no more appropriate book than what Jeff Shaara has given us here.
Summary of The Glorious Cause
In Rise to Rebellion, bestselling author Jeff Shaara captured the origins of the American Revolution as brilliantly as he depicted the Civil War in Gods and Generals and The Last Full Measure. Now he continues the amazing saga of how thirteen colonies became a nation, taking the conflict from kingdom and courtroom to the bold and bloody battlefields of war.It was never a war in which the outcome was obvious. Despite their spirit and stamina, the colonists were outmanned and outfought by the brazen British army. General George Washington found his troops trounced in the battles of Brooklyn and Manhattan and retreated toward Pennsylvania. With the future of the colonies at its lowest ebb, Washington made his most fateful decision: to cross the Delaware River and attack the enemy. The stunning victory at Trenton began a saga of victory and defeat that concluded with the British surrender at Yorktown, a moment that changed the history of the world.
The despair and triumph of America?s first great army is conveyed in scenes as powerful as any Shaara has written, a story told from the points of view of some of the most memorable characters in American history. There is George Washington, the charismatic leader who held his army together to achieve an unlikely victory; Charles Cornwallis, the no-nonsense British general, more than a match for his colonial counterpart; Nathaniel Greene, who rose from obscurity to become the finest battlefield commander in Washington?s army; The Marquis de Lafayette, the young Frenchman who brought a soldier?s passion to America; and Benjamin Franklin, a brilliant man of science and philosophy who became the finest statesman of his day.
From Nathan Hale to Benedict Arnold, William Howe to ?Light Horse? Harry Lee, from Trenton and Valley Forge, Brandywine and Yorktown, the American Revolution?s most immortal characters and poignant moments are brought to life in remarkable Shaara style. Yet, The Glorious Cause is more than just a story of the legendary six-year struggle. It is a tribute to an amazing people who turned ideas into action and fought to declare themselves free. Above all, it is a riveting novel that both expands and surpasses its beloved author?s best work.
From the Hardcover edition.
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