After having read David McCullough’s excellent book about the Wright Brothers recently, I was sufficiently impressed with his work that I decided to seek out additional books by this fine author. Despite my love of military history, I have largely neglected the Revolutionary War period until now. I knew the names of some of the battles and that the Continental Army was a ragtag force, but that was about it. Shameful, I know. In choosing this book as my introduction to the period I definitely made a good decision.

To paraphrase a Goodreads friend’s comment about McCullough, “He’s such a fine writer that he could write about the history of tennis balls and make it interesting.” The comment certainly hit the mark as this is a fantastic book in every way. McCullough’s style is a pleasure to read.

As indicated by the title, the book covers only the pivotal year of 1776. It begins with the siege of Boston following the battle of Bunker Hill and ends with the Battle of Princeton in New Jersey at the end of the year. In between, we learn of the immense troubles that George Washington faced. It is amazing that he was able to do as well as he did considering that most of his army consisted of untrained militia with limited enlistment periods. Add to this the paucity of good leaders and you have a recipe for disaster. Through it all he manages to keep the army together despite the constant hemorrhaging of its strength through desertion, disease, defection and expiring enlistments. Throughout the year Washington suffers from indecision and in some cases is loath to issue outright orders to his subordinates. His decision to defend New York nearly ends in disaster as an overwhelming British force outmaneuvers him and inflicts a decisive defeat upon the Continental Army. However, this defeat also brings Washington’s strengths to the fore as he deftly organizes a retreat from Long Island thereby avoiding certain destruction not only of the army but probably of the American cause. If his decision to defend Long Island was a poor one, his decision to abandon it and effect an escape is a brilliant one. This is the pattern that develops throughout the book. Washington makes mistakes but learns from them and manages to extricate his army to fight another day.

Another strength of George Washington was his ability to recognize the good leaders he had such as Nathaniel Greene and Henry Knox. In return, these leaders were exceptionally loyal to Washington. This was fortunate since these leaders and others were instrumental in the winning of what would be a protracted war. Washington must have been quite an inspiring figure for most seemed to hold him in high regard despite the troubles faced by the army.

The only negative thing I can think of is the lack of maps. I think some maps of the battles would certainly be helpful, especially to a denizen of the west coast like myself who is not intimately familiar with the geography of the area. This is especially true of the Boston area since the geography of modern Boston is nothing like that of colonial Boston. Nevertheless, the lack of maps is hardly a crippling flaw and does not detract from my rating of this book.

I recommend this book highly. McCullough’s style is so good that I think anyone, even those not previously interested in the period, would enjoy it. I will be reading more of McCullough’s books to be sure.

Just never could get into it. Seems like he did research but missed the spirit/heart of the times. I’ll stick to books closer to the founding dates but keep this on my shelf for future reference.

Incredibly well-researched and engaging book covering the first year of the American independence war.

It starts with the Siege of Boston before the Declaration of Independence, continues with the defense and abandonment of New York City, and finishes with the Battle of Trenton.

McCullough uses the many diaries, letters, and contemporaneous accounts to vividly describe the precariousness, indecisiveness, and incompetence of much of the rebellion as well as the overconfidence of the British empire.

After reading this you will appreciate the miracle of the rebels ultimately holding off the largest British army raised in decades, especially considering the continued loyalty of many of their colonial subjects.

Only downside is that the (Kindle version of the) book unfortunately lacked any maps of the routes and battle formations.

Trust David McCullough to make a story you have heard many times still thrilling.

Listened to this 13 hours strait! The author’s story telling is phenomenal. This book looks at the year 1776, which was America’s founding but also darkest hour. George Washington’s leadership was used by our almighty God to fight off the tyranny of England and establish the greatest country on God’s green earth. This book gave me so much more appreciation for our country in a time of revisionist history. I was never taught by this in public schools and it’s a shame.

I highly recommend this book.

“The reflection upon my situation and that of this army produces many an uneasy hour when all around me are wrapped in sleep. Few people know the predicament we are in. ”   

I mean, what can you say? It's David McCullough! And 1776 is a marvelous book. Raw, honest, but believing. I split this one between hardback and audiobook, the latter of which McCullough himself narrates, which is just wonderful. He's well known and well loved for a reason.

McCullough deserves kudos for making a comprehensive story of one long-ago year's unfolding drama fresh and compelling. The myriad military personalities come to life and the details of the trials and victories of this ragtag rebel army made this memorable as well as fascinating to read.
I'll be reading more of McCullough's work.

McCullough's celebrated 1776 covers a crucial turning point in the American war of independence from the British empire. However, I felt that this book was not as fascinating as Washington's Crossing by Fischer. In Fischer's book, we get a much more detailed account of the defeat in New York, the retreat across New Jersey and the crossing and re-crossing of the Delaware which I found more gripping than the more superficial coverage by McCullough. I guess the positive point of McCullough is the broader historical perspective starting in the loss of Boston and giving a brief panorama to the end of the war just at the end. His focus is clearly on Washington and his evolution as a leader from a hesitant commander making mistakes in New York to his more determined aggressive move towards Newark. However, if this topic truly interests you, I would recommend Fischer over this one.
I think that I will return to this period in a few months, probably with Ron Chernow's Washington: A Life, but it might be a while.

Technically I didn't actually read this for school, but it's so clearly written and informative that I'm putting it there.

David McCullough employs a lucid style in this book, detailed without being ornate, that conveys a lot of information in a short amount of pages. He's even-handed in his portrayals of the notable persons on both sides of the war, mostly focusing on them as soldiers and statesmen rather than as people. It's a refreshing approach, neither hagiography nor demonization. Both sides had noble idealists mixed with Machiavellians, fops, violent Neanderthals, and (on the British side, at least) mercenaries.

The book also makes it clear that war is mostly drudgery and discomfort, augmented by the terror of pursuit and ambush, and punctuated with spurts of carnage that often as not leave no clear victor. The only way it achieves anything is when one side decides that enough of its people have died. This particular war certainly had important goals, goals that would change the trajectory of human history, but that doesn't make it any less vile a business.

Having gotten this baseline of knowledge, I feel ready to tackle more books about the American Revolution. In fact, I'm quite excited to do so.

Recommended, especially if you have to write a paper about the Revolution. It's packed with useful info and very accessible.

When I started this book, I realized the scope of time was very limited compared to the whole revolutionary war. So I put it aside and read "The American Revolution: A Visual History" which was dense with information and told the whole story. Then I went back to McCullough's book, and was able to understand much more, and put the year 1776 in context of the larger war.

The stories in "1776" portrayed important events of that year, and also the personal characters of many historical figures, including, of course, George Washington -- both his failings and his successes.

Why didn't I know all this in school? History is much more fascinating than school would have you believe.

McCullough is a very good story-teller. He didn't doctor the tale up with fancy language; he just told the story straight. An easy and fascinating read. I also loved McCullough's "John Adams" (which I gave 5 stars) and am looking forward to more David McCullough books.

The musical was better!

No, I’m kidding (although I am one of 23 people on this planet to actually likes the B’way show. No excuse for the other planets). I want David McCullough to be my grandfather, sit near a fireplace, smoke a pipe and tell me stories. I don’t care about what—just talk.

I like his not-so-stuffy writing style. I always have. In “1776” he continues making historical figures and events accessible and even entertaining. His research is (as far as I know) impeccable. And thar’ be the problem mates’. His narrative is contained to the one year—and, yes, it was an incredible one—where the reader is plopped into a time vortex that needs a huge amount of back story (i.e. explain just about everything). It all seems like an appendix to his masterpiece “John Adams.” There was a wagon load of notes left over from that one so bind them all into another. I am being unfair, I realize. If you don’t compare it to “Adams,” it is better than your average book on the American Revolution . . . a lot better. Detailed when it needs to be, anecdotal enough to make characters human, succinct summarizations of complex events (often happening simultaneously) and easy on the old noggin.

I am also one of only nine people (among all the planets) who thinks the Broadway Show “Ben Franklin in Paris” was kinda cool. Oh, mock me if you want. I am secure enough to take it.