1776
by David McCullough
Overview
From the Publisher
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.
My thoughts
I need to give you a little background on this book before I go into details. I am a huge fan of David McCullough's books, so when this book was published I traveled to Kansas City to a book signing event. We spent a lovely day on the Plaza in Kansas City, shopping, dining, enjoying the best of Kansas City, and then made our way to the book signing. I was shocked at the volume of people pouring in. I knew that McCullough was well known in Kansas City by virtue of his book called Truman but I had no idea this many people from all walks of life would converge on Kansas City for the book signing.
We picked up our books and headed to the arena to be seated for a presentation by Mr. McCullough. If I wasn't already in love with him, I was by the time he finished speaking. He spoke with humor, interest, and an abundance of knowledge. I sat in awe of him.
After the presentation we lined up by the hundreds for the book signing. Mr. McCullough patiently signed every single book and spoke to every single attendee. I was, and am, blown away by his kindness, patience, and dedication to his work.
Having said that, 1776 wasn't a book I wanted to read! While I loved his other books, the whole idea of a lengthy book about battles and wars and stuff sounded so guy-ish. I'm a girlie (and proud of it) and as interesting as Mr. McCullough's presentation was at the book signing, this particular book of his wasn't one I wanted to read. I gave the signed copy to a dear friend of mine as a gift.
Three years later after finishing Mornings on Horseback and wanting more David McCullough, I decided to give 1776 a try. I was spellbound. I couldn't put it down. I read it in 3 days, and two of those days were work days! Who knew that the strategic planning would be so complex? Who knew the battle plans and their outcomes would be filled with such a dependence on weather conditions? Mr. McCullough tells the story like a chess game, first on the American side, then on the British side, then back to the Americans, then back to the British. What a disastrous but important year 1776 was to the new country!
If I have one criticism of this book it's that it needs a sequel. The book starts in 1775 and ends in 1777, but independence isn't gained until years later. I would have enjoyed a final chapter that went into considerably more detail about those years leading up to independence.
I think this is David McCullough's best book yet. I understand why it won a Pulitzer Prize and why it was a #1 national bestseller. McCullough did a remarkable job telling this remarkable story!
Favorite Passage
To Charles Willson Peale, walking among them by the light of the next morning on the Pennsylvania shore, they looked as wretched as any men he had ever seen. One had almost no clothes. "He was in an old dirty blanket jacket, his beard long, and his face so full of sores that he could not clean it." So "disfigured" was he that Peale failed at first to recognize that the man was his own brother, James Peale, who had been with a Maryland unit as part of the rear guard.
