1776

This popular history entry by award-winning author David McCullough was an informative and easy 300 page read if you don't get bogged down in the 70+ pages of notes, sources and bibliographies. An impressive piece of research, compiled from museum archives that included letters, diaries, newspapers and lots of other primary and secondary sources that recounts "... the tumultuous military campaigns of a year that saw the fortunes of George Washington’s fledgling Continental Army—and with it those of the new American republic—rise and fall: from a brilliant and unexpected success at the siege of Boston through failure and defeat in the fighting around New York and New Jersey to redemption in the freezing streets of Trenton" (HistoryNet). I came away from reading this not only better informed about the particulars of the war for independence, but frankly astounded that we ever succeeded against the British, given our very limited resources. Washington was clearly the man for the time, although McCullough does not gloss over the doubts that arose among his subordinates due to his (in)decisions that resulted in disastrous losses.  What was noteworthy was Washington's willingness to learn from others and from his mistakes. McCullough also gives credit and voice to others who helped lead or just survive the battles, drawing especially from accounts by Nathanael Greene, Henry Knox, their British counterparts as well as volunteer soldiers.

The Guardian's review notes that it was more a matter of the British losing the war than the Americans winning it. Although the New York Times chides that McCullough is least effective at conveying the sense of combat which lies at the heart of most stories about wars, the book "is nonetheless a stirring and timely work..." Kirkus notes that McCullough's focus on the common and the not-so-common man rather than on larger determining systems "may not have much explanatory power but almost always yields better-written books." They conclude that the book is a "sterling account" of "the second most costly war in American history..."

I agree with HistoryNet's note that the book would have been significantly enhanced by the inclusion of more and better maps. Even though it is probably not a book I would have picked up on my own (it was this month's book club choice) it was well worth reading!