History of the Rise, Progress, and Termination of the American Revolution (2 Volume Set) (Hardcover)

~ MERCY OTIS WARREN (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

A modern edition of Warren's 'History' is indeed a publishing event. Because Warren was deeply engaged in the political and moral issues of her day, her writing represents a treasure trove, especially for those interested in the political response of women to the republican and liberal ideas animating public debate. -- Joyce Appleby, University of California.

Product Description

Mercy Otis Warren has been described as perhaps the most formidable female intellectual in eighteenth-century America. This work (in the first new edition since 1805) is an exciting and comprehensive study of the events of the American Revolution, from the Stamp Act Crisis of 1765 through the ratification of the Constitution in 1788-1789. Steeped in the classical, republican tradition, Warren was a strong proponent of the American Revolution. She was also suspicious of the newly emerging commercial republic of the 1780s and hostile to the Constitution from an Anti-Federalist perspective, a position that gave her history some notoriety.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 821 pages
• Publisher: Liberty Fund Inc. (January 1, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0865970661
• ISBN-13: 978-0865970663
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 6.8 x 5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,944,547 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Invaluable Resource, July 30, 2000

By	William J. Murphy (St. Louis, MO) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

For those interested in the American Revolution, this work is a must. Mercy Otis Warren, a witnesss to the Revolution from start to finish, offers here an eloquent, inspired, profound, and even reliable contemporary account of the epochal events that occured in the crucial period of American history beginning with the Stamp act and terminating with the adoption of the Constitution. However, unlike modern scholarly accounts of the Revolution, Warren makes no effort to remain unbiased. Throughout the work, she firmly and passionately upholds the cause and values of liberty and republicanism. Despite this, she still makes a concerted effort to portray accurately and impartially the events that took place. And while she is at all times staunchly supportive of the cause of the revolutionists, she is quick to condemn cruelty, inhumanity, dishonesty, immorality, and barbarity wherever she finds it.

With these principles firmly in mind, she relates the key figures and events beginning with the reaction to the Stamp Act in the mid-1760s. From this point, she provides an able and suprisingly veracious account of the principal political, military, and diplomatic occurences, as well as the ideological status of both the American and British people. In addition to this, she also makes a point to illuminate several important yet neglected individual and the part that they played in the struggle. The historical significance of such accounts are further augmented by the fact that Warren herself was personally acquanted, either in person or through correspondance. Her relationships, fortunately enough, were not restricted to obscure figures, but rather extended to many figures of enduring stature, such as John Adams.

Ultimately, the main value of the work is that it presents a contemporary scholarly exposition of the events of the American Revolution through the eyes of an individual who clearly embodied the libertarian and republican tendencies of the era. In the same vein, the work garners further importance as an example of the Anti-Federalist tradition. Warren, as many may know, was an outspoken opponent of the Constitution, writing as the reknowned "Columbian Patriot." The final chapter of this work offers further insight into this aspect of her though, so much so that Herbert J. Storing included it in his 7 volume collection of Anti-Federalist material.

Although the value of this work is immense, it goes without saying that one should not engage it as the definitive account of the Revolution. One should, of course, consult the works of modern scholars to gain a more comprehensive account of era. Still, Warren's volumes stand as perhaps the finest contemporary account of the Revolution, and they certainly deserve more attention than they have received in the nearly two centuries that they have been available.