1776

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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.

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 -- 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.

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. David McCullough's vivid rendering of the Battle of Brooklyn and the daring American escape that followed is a part of the book few readers will ever forget.

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.

The darkest hours of that tumultuous year were as dark as any Americans have known. Especially in our own tumultuous time, 1776 is powerful testimony to how much is owed to a rare few in that brave founding epoch, and what a miracle it was that things turned out as they did.

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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His narrative, which is almost melodic at times, is punctuated with eyewitness accounts to the American Revolution through the use of diaries, letters, documents. It is also a real treat to hear the author himself reading from his own work in a clear and deliberate voice. His main thesis that the American Revolution succeeded only against all odds is a point well taken and dramatically depicted in this great work. Expertly written with a high degree of craftmanship and scholarship, the audio version of this work takes the listener on a journey through the year 1776 and all of its military exploits with ear-catching detail. Being visually impaired, the audio version of this work was a God-send and comprised five separate CD's with a total of approximately six hours of enjoyable listening. His character descriptions, especially of George Washington and King George III, as well as the various generals involved, is superbly done.

Sigh. It was a year of great victories (driving the Redcoats out of Boston), and of stupid decisions that almost cost America the war almost as it got started (the Battle of Brooklyn). There's something about David McCullough's voice that just elevated any material. The year 1776 was before Yorktown, before Valley Forge, and before many of the other campaigns of this very long war. Yet he persevered and almost single-handedly brought just enough success to keep the army intact, and the 'gentleman generals' of the Continental Congress at bay.I thoroughly enjoyed this 10 CD pack. It's long, yes, but you're unhappy when it's over. And when you have material such as '1776', the material is elevated beyond the merely excellent.McCullough has the ability to completely explore a subject, be it Truman or Theodore Roosevelt. This is history of the beginning of the American Revolution, the most important political event in the last 500 years.

It end with the stunning military victory at Trenton, where the Christmas offensive caught the British and their hated mercenaries, the Hessians. If only McCullough had done the entire American Revolution. Let's face it. He captures the tenor of the times by the frequent citation of contemporary diaries, letters, or autobiographies dating from the period. Along the way, George Washington, a widely admired and revered man even that early in America's history, had to contend with desertions, spies, illness, unhealthy camps, rampant fevers and epidemics, and a rag-tag bunch of American who just didn't like taking orders (what else is new).

Recently I began reading more about our nation's history and am learning so much more along the way. Having grown up in NJ, being so very familiar with the "route" Washington and his troops took, working for years in Trenton and now living 5 miles from Washington's Crossing on the PA/NJ border, I am in awe of what our forefathers accomplished.

It certainly should be required reading in our high school history classes. is beyond inspiring.

Not only the ultimate victory of freeing our country, but what they faced in terms of the trials and tribulations of injury, illness, terrain, fierce weather conditions, etc. McCullough is scholarly, but presents a book that anyone will enjoy.

I read a lot of fiction and many sports history books. 1776 is one of those books that often reads like a novel, it is so compelling.

A read of this book gives one a far greater appreciation for what we have been given in the United States by those who fought for our independence.

The detail of the battles was very informative. David McCullough always does great research for his books and "1776" is no exception. I knew the overall American Revolution story, but enjoyed reading about the battles and just how close we were to losing this war.

A great read, and one I would recommend to high school teachers to assign as summer work for honors or advanced placement students. This book makes the reader want to find out more about each of the characters discussed. His narrative style of combining great history with the backgrounds and actual words of the historical characters truly reads like a novel. He is fair to all. The American Revolutionary period is my favorite historical period to read about and study. 1776 by McCullouch does not necessarily break new ground, but he is such a master storyteller that this is a must read for all fans of history. One point of history to mention is the fact that the author does not treat the Americans as the heroes and the British/Hessians as the bad guys.