Customer Reviews

The Spirit Of Seventy-six: The Story Of The American Revolution As Told By Participants

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Compendiums of primary source material are of infinite value to those who wish to seriously study any period of history. The authors of this immense work have done us all a great service in presenting a colorful, accurate, and representative picture of the American Revolution by those who were there. As a primary source, this book is invaluable.

It isn't a book I would pick to read for pleasure on a cold, rainy night in front of the fireplace. In my opinion, it is more of a reference work that will give immense aid to researchers, historians, reenactors and hobbyists/enthusiasts of the period. Conversely, this serious work is not a dull encyclopedia, but a collection of recollections from those who fought to establish the country we call the United States. This book is both highly recommended and is a must to be on the bookshelf of any serious student of the period.

A great book ! I spent the better part of this year reading this book. But the beauty is that does not pose a problem because the writings included in this work are all relatively short. Make no mistake this is a very long work but well worth the effort. Especially since it is a collection of an incredible number of very short works.

The collected works are as the title states contemporary accounts. It is a real treat to read what the contenders had to say about each other. Also the reader may think that the style will be difficult. Not at all.

All in all I would most heartily recommend this work for either the student who would like a resource or anyone interested in The Revolution.

This is a fantastic work. The best thing about history is to find original source material and read what the actual people were thinking and saying. This book is better than most since it is mainly made up of letters and documents that illustrate how amazing our freedom is.We take so much for granted today and I believe that every American should read this book and realize just how close we came to losing everything. Heroes are really men and women that sacrifice everything for what they believe in. This book is about our first heroes. Our founding fathers and mothers were so exceptional. I get emotional every time I open this book and read about Lafayette, Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Greene, Hale, Henry, and Franklin.Please read this book and experience the story of our freedom from the people that won it.

This is a great book! You can read it cover to cover, or read parts here and there, putting it down and taking it up as one has time or the inclination. The editors place all of the writings in perspective and context. The selections are not just those of the big name founding fathers--many common folk, officers and soldiers, civilians and women have their say in these pages. British, Americans and Loyalists are represented as well.

"Spirit of '76" is a major collection of original sources on the Revolutionary War. Since it covers only 1773-83 it's not on the entire Revolution, but its mass alone (it's a 1400-page behemoth) is impressive if not exhaustive. Specialists on 18C America, the editors created a coherent narrative with explanatory passages linking the documents, but since participants produced much material long after the events, some are not pure primary sources. It still superbly describes many key developments and evokes well the tenor of the times. Unfortunately it's now dated, first published in 1958 with later reprintings. It appeared before the torrent of new research on early American economic, cultural and especially social history, and fascinating new voices could be included in a fully revised edition. Commager & Morris's Consensus-era thesis that the Revolution was essentially conservative is now hotly disputed; cf. G. Wood, "Radicalism of the American Revolution." But they inspired and trained a number of talented successors, pointing us toward a more inclusive understanding of our revolutionary drama.

In an era where the Founding Fathers are disparaged and intentionally forgotten, this book serves as a reminder why it is important to remember the events that led up to the nation's founding. Excellent source material, highly recommended!