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p_t_b's review against another edition
4.0
burned through this at the gym and in the car. mccullough does lovely work in stitching together the saga of the main dudes and women with diaries/accounts from relatively obscure/pedestrian participants - manages to make the late 18th century feel more immediate and human. this is a pocket history, not aiming to give you the big picture of the revolution or a complete biography of any of its heroes. always down for humanizing george washington, as much as that idea can be recovered given that even before he had won the war he was pretty well brined in hagiography/hero worship.
also does a good job of creating narrative drama and stakes without relying overmuch on MURICA style cheap theatricals - mccullough respects the reader enough not to constantly remind us that THE INFANT NATION HANGS IN THE BALANCE etc although he does occasionally indulge.
zippy, compact history that doesnt require much of the reader. a good gateway drug to early american history. i wish mccullough wrote about everyday life sometimes.
also worth mentioning: mccullough is a great audio reader - what he lacks in professional delivery he makes up for by sounding like the cutest slightly congested grandpa in the world
also does a good job of creating narrative drama and stakes without relying overmuch on MURICA style cheap theatricals - mccullough respects the reader enough not to constantly remind us that THE INFANT NATION HANGS IN THE BALANCE etc although he does occasionally indulge.
zippy, compact history that doesnt require much of the reader. a good gateway drug to early american history. i wish mccullough wrote about everyday life sometimes.
also worth mentioning: mccullough is a great audio reader - what he lacks in professional delivery he makes up for by sounding like the cutest slightly congested grandpa in the world
amiboughter's review against another edition
4.0
Read about battles that took place up the road from me for a change of pace. I was offended by the New England slander for about a hundred pages until I remembered that none of my ancestors had stepped foot in America at that time. George Washington’s distaste for “uncouth” New Englanders was tactfully omitted from my history classes.
joyfultunes's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
5.0
I loved this book. History is my favorite subject and I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
kathryn1193's review against another edition
DNFd at 18% but I think I'll come back to it.
mcbibliotecaria's review against another edition
2.0
I went in thinking this book would be a nice introduction to revolutionary history, and I wasn't wrong, although the content is almost too narrow in scope for it to be interesting to me. It covers Jan 1 -1776 through Dec 31, 1776 only. The status of the war at that point, specifically from the perspective of Washington. It chronicles in pain staking detail the battles that were lost early on in the year, and the sheer improbability of the rebels eventual victory. But in too much detail, which left me weary, as I am not familiar with the geography of New England at the time, nor could I keep track of all the men involved with similar names. The first 2/3 were about victories sort of gained and lost in Boston. I have to say the only battle that came alive happened toward the end, everyone recognizes the famous "Washington crossing the Delaware" painting by Leutze. It describes that battle, how they snuck up over the Christmas holidays, and were able to take advantage of the hired hessians keeping watch on Trenton. That battle was engaging, but you have to wait until the end to get to it. It closes up with a brief on how the battle would go on until 1783. It has surprisingly little about the rest of the forefathers drawing up the little document "declaration of independence". Perhaps this isn't the author's best work, I probably should have started with John Adams.
sirshiana's review against another edition
5.0
1776 was engaging and gave more detailed looks at events I’ve leads about my whole life. I think I’ll remember a bit more of America’s history thanks to this book. I also appreciated the way it felt like McCullough wasn’t biased towards America and hero worshipping the Americans while tearing down the British; this is the most even keeled history I have read.
scojjac's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this book because it makes history more than facts and dates; it turns the events into a story. However, McCullough can sometimes write in a very dense manner that makes certain passages difficult to get through. All in all, if you like history, I definitely recommend this book.