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1776 Hardcover – Deckle Edge, May 24, 2005
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In this masterful book, David McCullough tells the intensely human story of those who marched with General George Washington in the year of the Declaration of Independence—when the whole American cause was riding on their success, without which all hope for independence would have been dashed and the noble ideals of the Declaration would have amounted to little more than words on paper.
Based on extensive research in both American and British archives, 1776 is a powerful drama written with extraordinary narrative vitality. It is the story of Americans in the ranks, men of every shape, size, and color, farmers, schoolteachers, shoemakers, no-accounts, and mere boys turned soldiers. And it is the story of the King’s men, the British commander, William Howe, and his highly disciplined redcoats who looked on their rebel foes with contempt and fought with a valor too little known.
Written as a companion work to his celebrated biography of John Adams, David McCullough’s 1776 is another landmark in the literature of American history.
- Print length400 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherSimon & Schuster
- Publication dateMay 24, 2005
- Dimensions6.25 x 1.3 x 9.25 inches
- ISBN-100743226712
- ISBN-13978-0743226714
- Lexile measure1300L
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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
Some of the strongest passages in 1776 are the revealing and well-rounded portraits of the Georges on both sides of the Atlantic. King George III, so often portrayed as a bumbling, arrogant fool, is given a more thoughtful treatment by McCullough, who shows that the king considered the colonists to be petulant subjects without legitimate grievances--an attitude that led him to underestimate the will and capabilities of the Americans. At times he seems shocked that war was even necessary. The great Washington lives up to his considerable reputation in these pages, and McCullough relies on private correspondence to balance the man and the myth, revealing how deeply concerned Washington was about the Americans' chances for victory, despite his public optimism. Perhaps more than any other man, he realized how fortunate they were to merely survive the year, and he willingly lays the responsibility for their good fortune in the hands of God rather than his own. Enthralling and superbly written, 1776 is the work of a master historian. --Shawn Carkonen
The Other 1776
With his riveting, enlightening accounts of subjects from Johnstown Flood to John Adams, David McCullough has become the historian that Americans look to most to tell us our own story. In his Amazon.com interview, McCullough explains why he turned in his new book from the political battles of the Revolution to the battles on the ground, and he marvels at some of his favorite young citizen soldiers who fought alongside the remarkable General Washington.
The Essential David McCullough
John Adams
Truman
Mornings on Horseback
The Path Between the Seas
The Great Bridge
The Johnstown Flood
More Reading on the Revolution
The Great Improvisation by Stacy Schiff
Washington's Crossing by David Hackett Fischer
His Excellency: George Washington by Joseph J. Ellis
Washington's General by Terry Golway
Iron Tears by Stanley Weintraub
Victory at Yorktown by Richard M. Ketchum
From Publishers Weekly
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From School Library Journal
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Bookmarks Magazine
Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc.
From Booklist
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Review
-- Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
"A master story-teller's character driven account of a storied year in the American Revolution. A sterling account."
-- Kirkus, Starred Review
"...McCullough brilliantly captures the Spirit of '76 in Washington's miraculous victories at Trenton and Princeton. An altogether marvelous contribution that deserves to be read by every American."
-- Library Journal
About the Author
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Product details
- Publisher : Simon & Schuster; First Edition (May 24, 2005)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 400 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0743226712
- ISBN-13 : 978-0743226714
- Lexile measure : 1300L
- Item Weight : 1.72 pounds
- Dimensions : 6.25 x 1.3 x 9.25 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #18,868 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- Customer Reviews:
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About the author

David McCullough has twice received the Pulitzer Prize, for Truman and John Adams, and twice received the National Book Award, for The Path Between the Seas and Mornings on Horseback; His other widely praised books are 1776, Brave Companions, The Great Bridge, and The Johnstown Flood. He has been honored with the National Book Foundation Distinguished Contribution to American Letters Award, the National Humanities Medal, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Customer reviews
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Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonReviewed in the United States on October 21, 2022
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First leadership take-away: Leadership Despair. Project execution requires loyalty and faithfulness… yet, some troops didn’t care, or worse they purposely screwed it up or poisoned the water by sowing discord amongst troops. General Washington could encourage people, but he could not control their attitude. Washington turned to a home improvement project where he had control. This was how he kept sane knowing full well the sovereignty of our country was at stake.
Second leadership take-away: Leadership styles must be tailored for certain group types. Examples:
• Lead from the front --- required for inexperienced groups (perhaps for millennials)… in a business, or for the Revolutionary War!
• Manage capabilities (lead from behind as a driver) --- needed for groups who are self-reliant and are able to manage technically, but the business or mission strategy needs full time leadership especially when stakeholder connections are important.
• Be an advisor --- needed when the business or mission has a leader and could be performing well (or not), and the expertise of a seasoned consultant is needed for greater impact.
A leader that encourages a team from the front, is a leader that imparts a vision while standing should-to-shoulder during the fight. Washington rallied his troops for the sake of their country.
In today’s work environment, the work ethic is characterized by electronics and button-pushing. In this book, the younger generation lacked the warrior ethos or the drive to soldier it alone. General Washington recognized ineptitude as a result of people “unused to restraint”. The Continental Army seemed to be a dysfunctional group of farmers. Somehow, fighting for freedom may have been an ideal, but seemingly not a strong determination. In the words of Washington, a special kind of leadership was required. As he stated, “A people unused to restraint must be led, they will not be drove.”
While Washington was criticized for his leadership failures, this book helps the reader to understand Washington may have been the best leader. Maximum success was achieved for the farmer soldiers of the Continental Army.
Reviewed in the United States on October 21, 2022
First leadership take-away: Leadership Despair. Project execution requires loyalty and faithfulness… yet, some troops didn’t care, or worse they purposely screwed it up or poisoned the water by sowing discord amongst troops. General Washington could encourage people, but he could not control their attitude. Washington turned to a home improvement project where he had control. This was how he kept sane knowing full well the sovereignty of our country was at stake.
Second leadership take-away: Leadership styles must be tailored for certain group types. Examples:
• Lead from the front --- required for inexperienced groups (perhaps for millennials)… in a business, or for the Revolutionary War!
• Manage capabilities (lead from behind as a driver) --- needed for groups who are self-reliant and are able to manage technically, but the business or mission strategy needs full time leadership especially when stakeholder connections are important.
• Be an advisor --- needed when the business or mission has a leader and could be performing well (or not), and the expertise of a seasoned consultant is needed for greater impact.
A leader that encourages a team from the front, is a leader that imparts a vision while standing should-to-shoulder during the fight. Washington rallied his troops for the sake of their country.
In today’s work environment, the work ethic is characterized by electronics and button-pushing. In this book, the younger generation lacked the warrior ethos or the drive to soldier it alone. General Washington recognized ineptitude as a result of people “unused to restraint”. The Continental Army seemed to be a dysfunctional group of farmers. Somehow, fighting for freedom may have been an ideal, but seemingly not a strong determination. In the words of Washington, a special kind of leadership was required. As he stated, “A people unused to restraint must be led, they will not be drove.”
While Washington was criticized for his leadership failures, this book helps the reader to understand Washington may have been the best leader. Maximum success was achieved for the farmer soldiers of the Continental Army.
Though it takes place during the war for independence, and though it concerns that conflict, 1776 is not a history of the war. Rather, it deals with a small slice of the wider campaign. Yet this year, being so pivotal, mirrors the course of the war, for it began with defeat and retreat, but ended with great victories. Though the American forces managed to avoid full-scale battles, they showed their commitment to the ideals of independence through a series of smaller but still important battles.
The book begins in England near the close of 1775. George III, King of England, stands before Parliament and declares the colonies to be in rebellion. "I need not dwell upon the fatal effects of such a plan. The object is too important, the spirit of the British nation too high, the resources with which God hath blessed her too numerous, to give up so many colonies which she has planted with great industry, nursed with great tenderness, encouraged with many commercial advantages, and protected and defended at much expense of blood and treasure." And so he committed his forces to furthering the conflict and to crushing the opposition.
The closing pages of the book relay King George's words at the opening of the next year's Parliament. "Nothing could have afforded me so much satisfaction as to have been able to inform you ... that my unhappy people [in America], recovered from their delusion, had delivered themselves from the oppression of their leaders and returned to their duty. But so daring and desperate is the spirit of those leaders, whose object has always been dominion and power, that they have now openly renounced all allegiance to the Crown, and all political connection with this country ... and have presumed to set up their rebellious confederacies for independent states. If their treason be suffered to take root, much mischief must grow from it." The war was not over and there would be much blood still to shed.
Because of the narrow scope of the book, the narrative does not extend to the close of the war. Do the Americans win the war, or are they driven further and further west until they have to admit defeat? Do the British eventually cut their losses and give up on their colony, or do they own them still? And what happened to George Washington? Did the legend of the man extend past 1776 or were his best days already behind him? While these answers are obvious, I almost wished that the book had continued, at least to summarize the remaining years of the war. But, of course, this would defeat the purpose of writing a book with the limited objective of covering a single year.
1776 is popular history at its best. It is easy to read, yet filled with information. It tells the story of an important period of time in a way that is accessible to those who may not wish to read a scholarly treatment of the same material. It is long enough to be thorough, but short enough to avoid being overwhelming. It is good to see both Mayflower and 1776 on the bestseller lists at the same time. Both deserve the honor; both are worthy of a spot in your library.
Top reviews from other countries
1. Highly engaging. Very hard to put the book down
2. Seems to be an honest narrative. It does not talk only about the glories of Gen Washington and his men, but also of the troubles they were plagued with - diseases, desertion and destitution
Negative (Spoiler - some may consider):
Abrupt start and end. Starts right after the battle of Bunker Hill and ends somewhere in the middle of the war. No context setting whatsoever, and a hasty conclusion. Rather than being a narrative of the American Revolution, it is only about the events of 1776.
Positives strongly outweight the negative. Thus, no star deducted.
Dommage que le livre s’arrête avant la bataille de Yorktown.













