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by: David McCullough List Price: $18.00 Amazon.com's Price: $12.24 You Save: $5.76 (32%)Prices subject to change. Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Dewey Decimal Number: 973.3 EAN: 9780743226721 ISBN: 0743226720 Label: Simon & Schuster Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 400 Publication Date: June 27, 2006 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Release Date: June 27, 2006 Sales Rank: 3144 Studio: Simon & Schuster Accessories:
Editorial Review: Product Description: 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. Amazon.com Review: 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
More Reading on the Revolution
Average Rating:
 Rating:  - never received itemI ordered the book 1776 over 6 weeks ago and never received it. My child needs this book for a class beginning in January and I fully do not expect her to have it. Rating:  - A story every American should readI've had a few of McCullough's books on my shelves for a long time. I've always been well-intent on reading most of his books. But this is actually the first of his books I've actually read. And it was quite an incredible book. This covers the events of the Revolutionary War during 1776, which despite the bold Declaration of Independence and its glorification in history was anything but a positive year for the American colonies. 1776 was a hard year, especially for George Washington, ... Read More Rating: - Dramatic narrative of Washington's early campaignsAfter enjoying McCullough's exceptional biography of John Adams, I purchased several more books by him including this one. I liked it very much, finding it both informative and entertaining. Essentially, the book describes the early campaigns of George Washington and his army from the time he took command of the Continental Army during the Siege of Boston in July, 1775 to the battles of Trenton and Princeton. The latter of these actually occurred on January 3rd, 1777. This brings me ... Read More Rating: - Honest historyAs a non-historian with only grade school memories of Washington pitching a silver dollar over some river, McCullough straightened out my ideas. THe actors in this grade A drama are surprisingly human, make mistakes and are occasionaly inspired and there are new names in the cast. Read this interesting book and then compare past with present history and heroes. No mention of any football player in this book! Rating: - It is the obligation of every American to know this story.In 1776, David McCullough tells the story of the first year of the American Revolution by switching back and forth between the English and American perspectives. It provides brief, but vivid portrayals of the leading figures from both sides of the conflict. The American troops are rightfully portrayed as a poorly trained, inexperienced lot who are struggling simply to survive the hardships of being away from home for months on end with little to no supplies. Much is made of Washington's ... Read More
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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. 
