1776 by David McCullough

Title: 1776
Author: David McCullough
Released: June 27, 2006
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Pages: 400
Overall: ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

1776 is the story of Americans in the ranks, men of every shape, size, and color, farmers, schoolteachers, shoemakers, no-accounts, and mere boys turned into soldiers. And it is the story of the King’s men, the British commander, William Howe, and his highly disciplines redcoats who looked on their rebel foes with contempt and fought with a valor too little known.

Here also is the Revolution as experienced by American Loyalists, Hessian mercenaries, politicians preachers, traitors, spies, men and women of all kinds caught in the paths of war.

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–Nathaniel Greene, a Quaker who was made 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.

The book begins in London on October 26, 1775 when His Majesty King George III went before Parliament to declare America in rebellion and to affirm his resolve to crush it. From there the story moves to the Siege of Boston and its astonishing outcome, then to New York, where British ships and British troops appear in numbers never imagined and the newly proclaimed Continental Army confronts the enemy for the first time. There is an account of the Battle of Brooklyn and the daring American escape that followed.

As the crucial weeks pass, defeat follows defeat, and in the long retreat across New Jersey, all hope seems gone, until Washington launches the “brilliant stroke” that will change history.

A companion piece to his Pulitzer Prize winning biography John Adams, 1776 is so thorough an account of the events that transpired in the year of its title that it might easily serve as a textbook for an in-depth study on the Revolutionary War. Overall I found it extremely educational, and though I didn’t get lost in it per se, there were times when my heart beat a little faster as I wondered what would happen next.

Positives: Researched better than most American history textbooks, 1776 gives an in-depth analysis into the crucial decisions that leaders of the continental army–particularly Washington, Greene, and Knox–made. Many unsung heroes of the War are recognized within the pages of this books, and fair treatment is given to the British and Hessian commanders whose role in the Revolution is not often discussed in such detail. In addition, a bevy of quotes and journal entries are sprinkled throughout the text, bringing the story to life in a new way. I’ve never read a more enjoyable book on American history.

Negatives: There are so many characters, events, and locations to keep track of, that at times it’s hard to recall some of them. I think the organization of the story could have been improved upon, if only slightly, to remedy this.

Other things you can do:
Purchase a copy of 1776.
Visit David McCullough’s website.

Source: My copy of this book was a gift.