1776
by: David McCullough
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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
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.
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
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. John Adams |  Truman |  Mornings on Horseback |
 The Path Between the Seas |  The Great Bridge |  The Johnstown Flood |
More Reading on the Revolution
 The Great Improvisation by Stacy Schiff |  Washington's Crossing by David Hackett Fischer |  His Excellency: George Washington by Joseph J. Ellis |
 Washington's General by Terry Golway |  Iron Tears by Stanley Weintraub |  Victory at Yorktown by Richard M. Ketchum |
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.
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Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: 
- David McCullough
David McCullough does it again!Gives new light to old history in a most personal way.It's almost like you are there with the founding fathers in 1776!
Rating: - 1776!
This may be one of the best books I've ever read!Using expert research and letters of those who were there McCullough weaves an amazing story of the military engagement which took place during the year we declared our independence.
Not only is this an enthralling military history but an engaging story of human bravery and suffering.You not only get a great look into the minds of the American and British generals, but you witness the thoughts of the common soldier who fought in the ... Read More
Rating: - Influential
One of the best books I have ever read. An excellent and compelling account of the nearly tragic early years of the United States' bid for independence. McCullough focuses on the stereotyped and often cliched George Washington in a way that alternately humanizes him and makes makes him more remarkable than legend. I wish this was required reading for all high school students or at least those who teach history.
After this try Washington's Crossing by David Hackett Fischer - an excellent ... Read More
Rating: 
- Aclose look at a year in infamy
I took on this book after having read "The First American Army." The book follows Washington's army in its defenses, offenses and strategies in the year 1776.Operations in New York and New Jerey were seen as pivotal at the time and the book explains why.
1776 is easy to read and comprehend and helps you in your year long journey with Washington and some of his troops.But, as "The First American Army left me wanting more, I found myself with the same feeling after reading this book. ... Read More
Rating: - The miracle of America
1776 is a work of staggering simplicity and monumental achievement. This text gives one the appropriate sense of grandeur and history that the year 1776 richly deserves. Yet at the same time it brings such sweeping history into minute detail and humanity, making the reader realize that these giants of history were fully human, and like us, at times amazingly inspired and sometimes flawed.
Mr. McCullough is not only a wonderful historian, but he is also a very gifted writer and the prose leaps off ... Read More
- David McCulloughDavid McCullough does it again!Gives new light to old history in a most personal way.It's almost like you are there with the founding fathers in 1776!
- 1776!This may be one of the best books I've ever read!Using expert research and letters of those who were there McCullough weaves an amazing story of the military engagement which took place during the year we declared our independence.
Not only is this an enthralling military history but an engaging story of human bravery and suffering.You not only get a great look into the minds of the American and British generals, but you witness the thoughts of the common soldier who fought in the ... Read More
- InfluentialOne of the best books I have ever read. An excellent and compelling account of the nearly tragic early years of the United States' bid for independence. McCullough focuses on the stereotyped and often cliched George Washington in a way that alternately humanizes him and makes makes him more remarkable than legend. I wish this was required reading for all high school students or at least those who teach history.
After this try Washington's Crossing by David Hackett Fischer - an excellent ... Read More
- Aclose look at a year in infamyI took on this book after having read "The First American Army." The book follows Washington's army in its defenses, offenses and strategies in the year 1776.Operations in New York and New Jerey were seen as pivotal at the time and the book explains why.
1776 is easy to read and comprehend and helps you in your year long journey with Washington and some of his troops.But, as "The First American Army left me wanting more, I found myself with the same feeling after reading this book. ... Read More
- The miracle of America1776 is a work of staggering simplicity and monumental achievement. This text gives one the appropriate sense of grandeur and history that the year 1776 richly deserves. Yet at the same time it brings such sweeping history into minute detail and humanity, making the reader realize that these giants of history were fully human, and like us, at times amazingly inspired and sometimes flawed.
Mr. McCullough is not only a wonderful historian, but he is also a very gifted writer and the prose leaps off ... Read More
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