<![CDATA[1776]]>

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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 <table cellpadding="4" border="0" width="100%" cellspacing="4"> <img border="1" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/G/01/authors/mccullough_david.t.jpg" align="left">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 <table cellpadding="4" border="0" width="100%" cellspacing="4"> <tr class="tiny" valign="top" align="center"> <td width="33%"> <img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0743223136.01.TZZZZZZZ.jpg"> John Adams</td> <td width="33%"> <img src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0671869205.01.TZZZZZZZ.jpg" border="0"> Truman</td> <td width="33%"> <img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0671447548.01.TZZZZZZZ.jpg"> Mornings on Horseback</td> </tr> <tr class="tiny" valign="top" align="center"> <td width="33%"> <img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0671244094.01.TZZZZZZZ.jpg"> The Path Between the Seas</td> <td width="33%"> <img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/067145711X.01.TZZZZZZZ.jpg"> The Great Bridge</td> <td width="33%"> <img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0671207148.01.TZZZZZZZ.jpg"> The Johnstown Flood</td> </tr> </table> More Reading on the Revolution <table cellpadding="4" border="0" width="100%" cellspacing="4"> <tr class="tiny" valign="top" align="center"> <td width="33%"> <img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0805066330.01.TZZZZZZZ.jpg"> The Great Improvisation by Stacy Schiff</td> <td width="33%"> <img src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0195170342.01.TZZZZZZZ.jpg" border="0"> Washington's Crossing by David Hackett Fischer</td> <td width="33%"> <img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/1400040310.01.TZZZZZZZ.jpg"> His Excellency: George Washington by Joseph J. Ellis</td> </tr> <tr class="tiny" valign="top" align="center"> <td width="33%"> <img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0805070664.01.TZZZZZZZ.jpg"> Washington's General by Terry Golway</td> <td width="33%"> <img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0743226879.01.TZZZZZZZ.jpg"> Iron Tears by Stanley Weintraub</td> <td width="33%"> <img border="0" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0805073965.01.TZZZZZZZ.jpg"> Victory at Yorktown by Richard M. Ketchum</td> </tr> </table>

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1776

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5 5 false false Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu Feb 07 23:08:49 -0800 2008 Thu Feb 07 23:09:05 -0800 2008 more...]]> 2 2 false false Sun Sep 07 13:11:30 -0700 2008 Sun Sep 07 13:12:28 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 2 false false Fri May 30 09:58:32 -0700 2008 Fri May 30 10:09:27 -0700 2008 The book is a short one, and covers a topic I thought I knew well. Surely this material has been plowed through so thoroughly, there is nothing new to un...more...]]> 4 3 false false Sat Feb 09 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Feb 11 15:08:21 -0800 2008 Mon Feb 11 15:25:54 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 2 false false Tue Dec 23 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Dec 02 09:31:31 -0800 2008 Tue Dec 23 23:01:29 -0800 2008 more...]]> 0 2 true false Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue Jul 24 19:31:22 -0700 2007 Tue Aug 21 11:21:30 -0700 2007 more...]]> 2 3 false false Wed Jan 21 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Jan 21 15:09:33 -0800 2009 Wed Jan 21 15:12:33 -0800 2009
No, I’m kidding (although I am one of 23 people on this planet to actually likes the B’way show. No excuse for the other planets). I want David McCullough to be my grandfather, sit near a fireplace, smoke a pipe and tell me stories. I don’t care about what�...more...]]> 0 2 false false Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Mon Nov 26 06:39:52 -0800 2007 Tue Nov 27 04:21:10 -0800 2007 more...]]> 3 1 false false Thu Jul 23 21:22:29 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 07 20:20:02 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 23 21:22:29 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false false Fri Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Aug 20 10:14:51 -0700 2008 Thu Aug 28 08:01:34 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Tue Apr 22 10:48:30 -0700 2008 Tue Apr 22 11:00:46 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false false Fri Nov 16 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Sat Apr 05 05:41:18 -0700 2008 Sat Apr 05 21:42:37 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 1 false true Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Feb 07 20:20:26 -0800 2008 Fri Feb 08 14:46:52 -0800 2008
Caveat for the following review: I may be a tad unfair while rating this book. I had expected a largely political history, but got the military instead. Like the first tim...more...]]> 5 1 false false Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu Jan 17 19:56:19 -0800 2008 Thu Jan 17 19:57:29 -0800 2008 more...]]> 3 1 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Wed Sep 19 21:36:03 -0700 2007 Sat Sep 22 21:43:01 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 1 false false Tue Jan 27 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Dec 29 19:05:02 -0800 2008 Tue Jan 27 19:34:37 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 1 false false Wed Mar 04 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Feb 17 13:50:40 -0800 2009 Wed Mar 04 15:59:09 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false false Sun Jun 15 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Jul 14 10:49:15 -0700 2008 Sat Nov 15 18:36:55 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 1 false false Wed Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Dec 30 06:45:54 -0800 2008 Tue Dec 30 06:50:10 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false false Sun Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Jun 16 22:39:30 -0700 2008 Sat Jun 28 22:52:30 -0700 2008
It was easy to read and flowed fairly well. There were a few clunky sections, ...more...]]>