Customer Reviews

The Challenge of the American Revolution

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Edmund Morgan is America's most readable colonial historian, author of the ground-breaking "American Freedom, American Slavery" and the seminal "The Puritan Family" among other classics. This collection of loosely organized essays about the American Revolution is not meant as an introduction to the subject (for which see Morgan's "Birth of the Republic"), but a conversation for those who already know something of the subject. These essays range from a discussion of the sources of the revolution (legal, traditional rights, intellectual, religious) to the conflicts between the calls to freedom and the existence of slavery. First-rate reading for anybody interested in the subject area, but especially for AP history teachers like me.

This was a wonderful overview of many of the different aspects of the American Revolution. It deposes many widely held myths, but is never cynical. It presented many interesting ideas and opens up many new avenues of study. It is perfect for anyone who would just like to know more about why the American Revolution took place than the surface skimming that most of us got in High School and College.

Morgan is one of my favorite historians. When it comes to the Puritans or the early Republic, he is one our country's best. This work is no exception.