A Leap in the Dark: The Struggle to Create the American Republic (Hardcover)

Almost a Miracle: The American Victory in the War of Independence by John Ferling  (27)  $19.77

Setting the World Ablaze: Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and the American Revolution by John Ferling  (17)  $14.93

American Creation: Triumphs and Tragedies at the Founding of the Republic by Joseph J. Ellis  (53)  $17.79

The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, 1763-1789 (Oxford History of the United States) by Robert Middlekauff  (36)  $16.47

What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815-1848 (Oxford History of the United States) by Daniel Walker Howe  (22)  $23.10

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From The New Yorker
This deft account of the American struggle for independence dispels the aura of inevitability that usually surrounds such histories by beginning its narrative not on the verge of the Revolution but twenty years earlier. Ferling demonstrates how the thought of independence emerged only gradually out of the fight against unfair taxation and British indifference. The endless clashes with Colonial authorities turned cautious merchants and gentlemen farmers who thought of themselves as loyal British subjects into genuine revolutionaries. Still, a sense of uncertainty persisted well after the British surrender, and Ferling vividly evokes the political turmoil of the post-Revolutionary years. Even as he takes the Founders off their pedestals, their accomplishments only gain in stature.
Copyright © 2005 The New Yorker

From Booklist
Spanning the period between the Stamp Act of 1765 and Thomas Jefferson's inauguration as president in 1801, veteran historian Ferling surveys the politics and politicians of the American Revolution and early republic. Addressing readers already well grounded in the disputes leading to the formation of the U.S., Ferling focuses on the process of signal events, particularly the continual reevaluation of power, motive, and future expectations that political players make. An example is Ferling's examination of the Boston Tea Party of 1773, in which he introduces Samuel Adams and outlines the radical's political touch. Figures less eager to break with Britain also populate Ferling's narrative, such as Benjamin Franklin, who moved adroitly to the cause of independence, and others less nimble, who lost all in the subsequent war. Briefly summarizing the war's military course, Ferling focuses on the politics of financing the war and the postwar debt, restoring to significance a host of historical personages in the tier below the Founders. A scholarly but accessible work for large collections. Gilbert Taylor
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