|
1776 (平装)
by David McCullough
| Category:
Fiction, American history |
| Market price: ¥ 208.00
MSL price:
¥ 158.00
[ Shop incentives ]
|
| Stock:
In Stock |
|
|
MSL rating:
 Good for Gifts |
| MSL Pointer Review:
Another product of David McCullough's genius in making history come to life, this landmark book in the literature of American history is history in fiction form. |
| If you want us to help you with the right titles you're looking for, or to make reading recommendations based on your needs, please contact our consultants. |
|
| |
AllReviews |
  1 2 Total 2 pages 15 items |
|
|
Jerry Sanchez (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-22 00:00>
David McCullough never disappoints. 1776 is not a long book, compared to many of his previous books, but it is another one of his masterpieces. Rather than recounting the entire Revolutionary War, McCullough decided to capture one momentous year, 1776, and he did so with such detail that the reader grasps the tribulations and small victories of those that fought for what they believed in, from General Washington to the young, teenaged soldier. McCullough is correct when he stated at the end of his book that Americans often take their freedom for granted and we seldom appreciate the difficulties and sacrifices that our military has endured to allow us to enjoy our freedom. This has been true throughout America's existence, but perhaps no more so than in the year 1776.
|
|
|
J. Walsh (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-22 00:00>
So nice to read a well-written, professionally researched historical account. McCullough's gift is in leaving you wanting more, and his feat is in never leaving the reader haven bitten off more than he can chew.
Highlights include the analysis of Washington which presents a telling revision of school book history. The book does have weaknesses, in choosing to limit the book in the way he did (which I still hold as genius, even as I offer this criticism) to the passage of a calendar year there are things that are relevant to the main story that are left out. The reader feels thrust into Boston, winter 1776, without much background, but this is a story so familiar to Americans that it shouldn't be too jarring.
Too, you may be left wanting for more when McCullough leaves us in Princeton with the Continental Army in December 1776. And, given that this book recasts the tried and true tale of the heroic conquest of the redcoats, the reader is left out in that Princeton cold wondering how Washington and the army built on the victories at Trenton and Princeton (McCullough casually alludes to victories in the South some years later).
Still, the book is immensely enjoyable and readable. The depth of McCullough's research and his gifted easy writing make sure of that.
|
|
|
Jason Miller (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-22 00:00>
I came away from 1776 somewhat disappointed. Perhaps because the stories about Philadelphia and the Continental Congress and the Declaration of Independence had been told so many times, and perhaps because the story of George Washington's army had not been, David McCullough's "companion" book to his epic John Adams biography winds up much smaller in scale than I expected. This is a campaign-by-campaign military history of how American almost lost the War of Independence in 1776, with little indication as to how we ever managed to win.
This book is not the story of the political and philosophical underpinnings of the American Revolution. The book opens in England, during Parliamentary debates about the rebellion in the colonies. The Declaration of Independence is mentioned only in passing, and July 4 is glossed over in less than a paragraph.
What makes 1776 fresh is its portrayal of the come-from-behind rebels, who overcame not only a larger and better equipped British army (with German shock troops), but also a large Loyalist population in their own colonies. Even four score and seven years before Gettysburg, the nascent conflict between the North and South is shown bubbling under, as aristocratic Virginian Washington has to overcome his native revulsion for the New England soldiers. This is not the story of 1776 I remember being taught in elementary school.
The second year of the War of Independence (this book picks up the battle in mid-stream, after Bunker Hill, after Lexington and Concord) is fought first as the American troops expel the British from Boston, and later on as the British return to march effortlessly through Long Island, York Island (later Manhattan) and New Jersey. McCullough is careful to keep the American comeback as a surprise, as he shows several different instances where the British had Washington at their mercy, within a hundred yards of capture... only to pull back at entirely the wrong moment.
1776 ends on something of a cliffhanger, with the Americans having barely won a couple of battles in south Jersey in the dead of winter, with Manhattan having fallen to the British, and the Continental Congress on the run from Philadelphia, hiding out in Baltimore. The book does not end with much closure - the Treaty of Paris is still years away, and the fate of several key players is never described. This is a book without an epilogue. You will not find mention of Benedict Arnold, Valley Forge, or of Lafayette, or indeed any hint of how Washington's army turned their year-end surprise victory into a sustained and victorious campaign.
As a native New Yorker resident of Manhattan, what fascinated me most about this book is the local history. I hadn't realized how many place names in the tri-state area either came from, or were featured heavily, in the Revolutionary War. This book explains the origins of Fort Lee and Fort Greene and Clinton Hill and Murray Hill and Washington Heights. If one stands near the Staten Island Ferry terminal at St. George, or on the beaches of Sandy Hook looking up at Coney Island (and I did both last week), one can stand in the place of the amassing British army in '76 and almost see the unlimited strategic opportunities for crushing the rebellion.
Given 1776's limited scope and abrupt ending, one can only hope and assume that a similarly detailed 1777 will be coming out soon. I can imagine that McCullough himself is still uncovering the first-person details of what happened next, and can't wait to tell us how it's all going to end. |
|
|
P. Anderson (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-22 00:00>
The author begins this well researched book with a discussion of the political situation in Britain in relation to the American colonies. In following pages he provides insight into the life of George Washington as he reveals many interesting facts about him. The Colonial Congress made Washington commander-in-chief of the Continental Army and the book examines and discusses the Revolutionary War battles with the British under Washington's leadership. In spite of Washington's weaknesses, many of that day believed that without his leadership the war would have been lost. One of his weaknesses was his inability to make decisions at times. One of his greatest strengths was his determination in this war. He felt that failure to succeed in defending the independence of America at this time would end the opportunity of establishing an independent nation. Though he had periods of great discouragement he never gave up. After many significant defeats, the crossing of the Delaware River and making a surprise attack of the British at Trenton, NJ in December of 1776 gave a much-needed lift to the Continental Army. The British were not able to squash the independence movement against a foe, which was outnumbered with little military experience and much sickness. I believe Winston Churchill's famous words: "Never before in history have so many owed so much to so few" can appropriately be applied as we look back to 1776. |
|
|
Matt Curtin (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-22 00:00>
A friend of mine visited England a few years ago. Playing darts and drinking pints with the locals in a pub, the "yank" found himself on the receiving end of a constant stream of harassment. Though generally good-natured, the comments finally exceeded his limit. When it came time to tally his score, he announced "...and eight more, that makes ... 1776!" The uproar that followed clearly demonstrated that everyone caught his reference. It would seem that 1776 was a year long-remembered on both sides of the Atlantic. David McCullough's latest book explains why.
Part one of McCullough's text, "The Siege" opens in October 1775. In London, King George III appeared before Parliament to declare the American colonies in rebellion; some fourteen hours later, Parliament was resolved to wage war in America, against the "rabble in arms." Meanwhile, Boston lay in siege. After the Battle of Bunker Hill, the British took possession of the spot and controlled the city of Boston. American troops - only recently organized into any sort of force that could be called an army and still without a flag - controlled the land around the city. McCullough introduces us to the Americans who came to the scene for the sake of "public security." As winter set in, we see that both British and American forces were miserable.
In this situation we see the January 1, 1776 commencement of "a new army, in which every point of view is entirely continental," named the Continental Army, and given a flag of thirteen red and white strips with the British colors represented in an upper corner. After surviving the winter of early 1776, the Continental Army makes its move; McCullough shows us the shocking defeat of the British at Boston beginning with the American seizure of Dorchester Heights.
Part two, "Fateful Summer," shows the Continental Army marching to New York, where the British were assumed next to attempt to assert control over the Colonies. A tremendous display of British firepower and supremacy of the Royal Navy foreshadows the stunning defeat suffered by the troops under the command of General Washington. So tremendous was the loss at Long Island that many of the British assumed that the rebellion would soon dissipate. Even as the military struggled 230 years ago this week, Congress chose to separate itself from Great Britain.
Part three, "The Long Retreat," shows us the discouragement suffered by the American forces. Confidence in Washington waned and soldiers deserted in waves of thirty or forty at a time--many defecting. The rest of New York would soon be lost, including over 2,800 soldiers captured at Fort Washington. Fort Lee would be abandoned, leaving behind everything: tents, guns, stores, and even the breakfast that was cooking. With winter coming, commissions expiring at the end of the year, soldiers lacking clothing, and morale as low as can be imagined, the darkest hour was upon the Continental Army.
It was in these conditions that Washington decided to take Trenton, attacking the holding force of Hessians meant to keep the village safely under the control of the British for the winter. The Americans fought with tremendous force, securing Trenton and surprising their adversaries just as thoroughly as they had done at Boston nine months earlier. Just about a week later, the Americans attacked again, this time against Cornwallis' rear guard at Princeton. The ferocious battle, all over in the time of a quarter-hour left the Americans victorious.
The war would rage on for years longer - until the Treaty of Paris in 1783 - but 1776 would nevertheless be a pivotal year in the history not just of the American continent, but of Great Britain, whose subjects populated the colonies originally, and indeed of the whole world. McCullough tells the story of the events of 1776 with skill that makes it a joy to read. Readers will undoubtedly find themselves afterward thinking not just about what happened but what lessons we might be able to apply from the ordeal in our own time, and in our own lives. I thought back to the words of George Washington, quoted in the beginning: "Perseverance and spirit have done wonders in all ages." So they have.
|
|
|
|
1 2 Total 2 pages 15 items |
|
|
|
|
|
|
