In the rows of august marble busts that commemorate the American Revolution, we have lost sight of the true radical spirit of the longest and most ...
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reviews
Mar 01, 2011
Laurie
rated it: 
If you read only one book on the American Revolution (I'd go so far as to say 'only one book on American history') make it this one.
I borrowed this from the library to take on vacation because my family history searches made me curious to know more about this period than I did. Much of the history we were taught about this period was "great men" and "great battles", accompanied by examining hagiographic paintings made either at the time (Benjamin Rush) or later, More...
I borrowed this from the library to take on vacation because my family history searches made me curious to know more about this period than I did. Much of the history we were taught about this period was "great men" and "great battles", accompanied by examining hagiographic paintings made either at the time (Benjamin Rush) or later, More...
Jul 22, 2010
Michael
rated it: 
As a collection of stories about marginalized groups during the American Revolution, Nash's book is informative and could be even enlightening to a general reader. For the more academic reader, Nash's book includes no new research. Nash obviously aims the book for the general audience as he writes in the preface that he hopes the book will prove an "antidote to historical amnesia." Yet, all the things Nash discusses are drawn from the work of other historians over the last 30+ years. I
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Sep 27, 2009
Lindy
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Nash examines often-overlooked parts of the American Revolution to reconstruct a "democratic" history that avoids the grand narrative styles of other historians such as Gordon Wood, and presents an every man's story of the Revolution. The introduction, wherein Nash reacts to a number of historical myths that have cropped up over the roughly two centuries since the Revolution, presents a new and enlightening aspect of the Revolution that Nash feels gets lost under the gloss of the Found
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Aug 20, 2010
Steve
rated it:
Nash's retelling of the American Revolution focuses on the disenfanchised: women, Negroes (slave and free), Native Americans, and men of modest means--mariners, artisans, small merchants, farmers. He relates these people's stories to the received narrative to describe how the people that won the war may have lost the revolution, as a real possibility existed at the time for the abolition of slavery, enhancement of the rights of women (though probably not full citizenship), honorable treatment of
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Jul 13, 2009
Jonathan
rated it: 
Incoherent and tiresome. The Unknown American Revolution is a jumble of vignettes designed to illustrate a paper-thin thesis that couples a cliché (most of the people caught up in the American Revolution were not elite white men) with an anachronism (these non-elite-white-men wanted radical democratic change). Nash culls stories of women, nonwhites, farmers, and workers from secondary sources -- a worthwhile endeavor, I suppose -- but simply piles them in narrative fragments instead of conducti
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Mar 21, 2011
Nathan
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In this boldly revisionist history, Nash recasts the American Revolution as a populist movement born of private citizens, working-class people and popular sentiment. As a corrective to the elite image of the affair as the business of aristocratic founding philosophers, this notion is a necessary piece of the puzzle and illuminating counter-perspective to history as usual. As a cohesive thesis to a substantive study, I found it a bit lacking. That the Revolution was a broadly populist affair is
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Dec 03, 2009
Recommended by Language Hat as the "best history book I've read in a long time", recommended "to anyone who wants to understand the Revolution in anything other than the usual triumphalist terms."
Jul 29, 2010
So far so good. A series of short, juicy, biographical vignettes. Colorful, narrative stuff. Very informative about time and place.
Mar 10, 2010
Andy
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This book is really interesting - instead of being just a history of the founding fathers, it explains what was going on at every level of society, what life was like for soldiers, workers, farmers, artisans, and especially slave, free blacks, Indians, and women. And the auther keeps hatin' on John Adams, who at all times opposed extending the right to vote to anyone but white property owners. He didn't just oppose voting for blacks and women, but also for shoemakers, teachers, brewers, etc.:
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Nov 09, 2007
Brad
rated it:
One of the best books on the American Revolution in recent years. Gary Nash has always been one of my favorite historians. You can almost guarantee that any book he writes will be groundbreaking. In this book, Nash takes a look at the American Revolution from the perspective of those that are often forgotten (Blacks, women, Native Americans, etc). It is an excellent view of the American Revolution from a perspective other than the traditional Founding Fathers. A must read for any fan of ear
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Mar 29, 2010
Barbara
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This book focuses on the role that African Americans, Native Americans, and common, poor laborers had in making the American Revolution successful. It had some very interesting information and portions were wonderful, but it dragged in parts to the point where I alternated between it and another book to keep myself reading it. Also, it did not seem as unbiased and fair as some other books I've read. The author's political views seemed to take precedence in how things were presented.
Jun 17, 2009
Anna
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Wow, this guy goes into amazing detail about the pulse of the nation as it's about to start a revolution. He does a great job of setting the tone and looking at the most unlikely characters. I'm sure Washington, Adams, and Jefferson will show up in here eventually, but for now its all about the people. Can't wait to see how it turns out. ;-P
Jan 08, 2008
Spencer
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Looking deep into the pages of American History reveals those who are left out of the history books. This book opens up how broad and diverse America was during the Revolution beyond patriarchs such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, etc. Read and fully become aware of those who dreamed and died for true liberty.
Jun 29, 2008
Leslie
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Nash's description of what the revolution meant to "ordinary Americans" is well-written and engrossing. It moves the narrative of the Revolution beyond the "Great Men" story we are taught in school.
Feb 21, 2009
I'm learning a lot about the revolutionary activities that led up to the American Revolution. The stuff we learned in school was so tame compared to much of what this book covers.
Sep 07, 2009
Umm...not the "get lost in a good read" kind of a book, but some really interesting info. It is really easy to read small topical sections just from poking around the index
Aug 12, 2008
Breezy
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Ok, I didn't actually finish the book. But what I did read, I enjoyed. HD's questions were just too much for me. It made reading the book more of a chore then enjoyable.
Dec 16, 2009
Sarah
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interesting topic, interesting anecdotes, but it wasn't organized very well.
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