1776

Book cover of 1776 by David McCullough

1776 by David McCullough

After reading this book I realized that we became America only by the skin of our teeth, and by the integrity and perseverance of George Washington. Luck of the weather and bad decisions by the British were important factors too, but it was Washington who was the driver.

From Amazon …

America’s beloved and distinguished historian presents, in a book of breathtaking excitement, drama, and narrative force, the stirring story of the year of our nation’s birth, 1776, interweaving, on both sides of the Atlantic, the actions and decisions that led Great Britain to undertake a war against her rebellious colonial subjects and that placed America’s survival in the hands of George Washington.

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.

From a 5-star review …

In 1776 he explains how the pivotal year was make-or-break for our rebellious country. The book begins in the summer of 1775 Britain where King George III and Parliament are arguing about the situation in America. Mr. McCullough is exceedingly fair in assessing the people involved on every side of the dispute here and in the United Kingdom. The stakes were high for both sides. Understandably the person at the center of the author’s book is General George Washington. 1776 shows why Washington came to epitomize our country’s aspirations and really was the only logical choice to be the United States’ first president.

The book has a generous 32 pages of black-and-white as well as color illustrations. Mr. McCullough demonstrates how weather, lack of intelligence, chance, communication, supplies, recruitment efforts, and luck played important roles in the outcomes. I found it interesting and laughable how both sides kept declaring their victories or lucky breaks were God’s will. George Washington is front and center in the book, but the author also focuses on others who have been lost to history except to the most avid history buffs. On the American side, such important figures as Nathanael Greene, Henry Knox, and Joseph Reed are given credit for their efforts. On the British side, the central figure is General William Howe. 1776 avoids myth building by explaining in detail the condition of the troops, Loyalist who hoped Washington and his small ragtag army would be defeated, military successes and blunders, the states’ reluctance to risk their troops on what many viewed as a lost cause, acts of courage as well as cowardice, and horrible acts done by both sides.

Great history makes an effort of giving an accurate representation of what was and not what people wish it to be. The United States is no different than any other country in trying to whitewash uncomfortable aspects of our past. Politicians and demagogues are especially zealous at spreading the patriotic manure of our country’s complete moral purity. Mr. McCullough is a necessary corrective to their jingoistic bilge. He is one of those historians who not only tells a compelling story but shows our past’s successes, failures, and mixed results. 1776 only covers one year but what a year it was. The reader will conclude the book truly understands how close we were to remaining under British rule.

Companion books to 1776

You might also like America’s Revolutionary Mind: A Moral History of the American Revolution and the Declaration That Defined It by C. Bradley Thompson.

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