1776: The Illustrated Edition (Hardcover)

~ David McCullough (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Amazon Best of the Month, October 2007: With apologies to local museums, it's hard to imagine an interactive look at the birth of American independence that exceeds 1776: The Illustrated Edition. Packed with striking replicas of letters, maps, and portraits, this updated version of David McCullough's 2005 bestseller provides readers with unedited first-hand accounts of America's initial steps toward sovereignty. Its engaging narrative blends beautifully with personal notes from iconic leaders and reveals the determination, bravery, and good ol' blind luck that founded our country. --Dave Callanan

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. This handsome new version of McCullough's blockbuster (2.6 million copies of the original edition in print) is a visual feast. The text is abridged, but McCullough illustrates his riveting account of the most important year in the war that made America with maps, portraits and reproductions of broadsides and newspaper ads. Many famous paintings are included—Washington Crossing the Delaware (which, McCullough notes, captures the drama of the moment, even though many of the details are inaccurate); Charles Wilson Peale's portraits of Alexander Hamilton and Gen. Nathanael Greene; John Singleton Copley's portrait of Mercy Otis Warren, who wrote an early history of the revolution. McCullough also introduces less well-known images, such as a satiric print poking fun at the British prime minister, Lord North. Scattered throughout are vellum envelopes that hold facsimile reproductions of 37 primary sources—letters from George Washington to Martha, an ambrotype of Continental soldier Ralph Farnham as a centenarian, the text of a vow of allegiance to the king taken by Loyalists in New Jersey. By including these documents, McCullough has recreated not just the excitement of 1776, but the thrill of an archival research trip as well. From start to finish, this volume is a delight. (Oct.)
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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; First Edition edition (October 2, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416542108
• ISBN-13: 978-1416542100
• Product Dimensions: 12.5 x 9.7 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #8,594 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

79 of 80 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An improvement on an already good book. , October 13, 2007

By	Monty Rainey (New Braunfels, TX) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Originally published in 2005, 1776 by David McCullough was an enjoyable read. This new illustrated version is sure to add new life to an already successful book. Since there are two issues here, the original text and then the illustrated revision, I'm going to review the two issues separately.

Let me begin by saying, quite simply, I enjoyed the book. This book serves as somewhat of an overview of what is perhaps the most critical year of the last millenium. Some may dissagree with that and may make legitimate cases for other years of historical significance, but that is for another discussion.

McCullough recounts the major events of the year and gives good narrative of each event. However, just as the Revolutionary War was somewhat slow to get starting, so too is this book. The accounts are all meticulously accurate in the historical sense and McCullough has certainly succeeded in amassing the information critical to a basic knowledge of what events transpired in bringing forth American independence.

The deeper the reader gets into the book, as with the war itself, the more complex it becomes and I found myself soon rivited to every detail and this one becomes, what many might refer to as a real "page turner". By the time the reader reaches the final pages, the year 1776 is drawing to a close, and sadly, so does the book. Perhaps in this way, McCullough has served to stimulate the interest of readers first learning of the events and will cause them to take their research of America's founding to the next level.

I usually have a pretty good idea of what I want to say in reviewing a book, but this one has left me a bit perplexed. It is a good book, which I did enjoy reading, but perhaps it is due to what I have read of McCullough's work before that left me somewhat dissappointed. I expected more from this book, but I suppose asking a two time Pulitzer winner to replicate prior efforts may be asking too much.

Now, for the illustrated portion of 1776. I first discovered this extraordinary new concept in a book I found for my grandkids called Piratology, where the book contained insert pages with folders which contained maps and other pirate related treasures. The book was a huge hit with the pirate infatuated boys. Here, the folders contain a variety of facsimiles such as documents, letters, maps, etc. This version also contains some beautiful photographs and is a gorgeous binding that looks extraordinary on the book shelf.

I only gave McCullough's original 1776 four stars, but this illustrated version is a definite upgrade and pushes this volume to top honors.

59 of 62 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Actually Better Than 1776 Was, October 3, 2007

By	Penny Dreadful (Under Your Skin) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

At first I thought it was a gimmicky idea (a gimmicky idea that worked easily enough on little ol' me) to release something like this, but the plain fact is this is an interesting book that makes me feel like I used to as a kid when I'd read those neat pop-up books that were filled with compartments and extras to be found, taken out and read. This is both an augmentation of the author's bestseller 1776 (which I wasn't overly impressed with, truth be told) and an excellent, even superior, stand alone work. I loved reading through the facsimiles of letters, seeing the maps, sketches, houses, portraits and scenes of places significant to the tale of the great year of our country's true start. I enjoyed this book a lot and think it was a novel idea that worked well. It's fun to get through, fact-filled, and rewardingly educational. What a neat idea!

60 of 64 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Far from "biased" or "defective" , October 8, 2007

By	J. R. Anderson "JRAnderson" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

It's wildly off the mark to call this book "defective," or David McCullough a "biased historian." The focus here is just far more on the military aspects of The Revolutionary War. This focus lent itself to far more coverage of Washington than Jefferson or Franklin. Other books have covered the political climate and events of that time in spades.

Seeing as "1776: The Illustrated Edition" is not about the political side of America's founding, it seems reasonable (and, I thought, beneficial to the book) to keep the focus narrower, and the depth greater. David McCullough's account of 1776 is no more biased than the writer of a Civil War book who chose to focus on the South, and thus did not give in-depth insights into the role of Ulysses S. Grant in the war.

I would imagine the fact that the previous reviewer has written a book on Benjamin Franklin might be a reason for the preference on seeing Franklin covered in all books about the war. It might also point to the reason for such undue scorn directed at the gorgeous illustrated version of an insightful, enjoyable (and successful) book like "1776."