Mariella's Reviews > 1776

I went in thinking this book would be a nice introduction to revolutionary history, and I wasn't wrong, although the content is almost too narrow in scope for it to be interesting to me. It covers Jan 1 -1776 through Dec 31, 1776 only. The status of the war at that point, specifically from the perspective of Washington. It chronicles in pain staking detail the battles that were lost early on in the year, and the sheer improbability of the rebels eventual victory. But in too much detail, which left me weary, as I am not familiar with the geography of New England at the time, nor could I keep track of all the men involved with similar names. The first 2/3 were about victories sort of gained and lost in Boston. I have to say the only battle that came alive happened toward the end, everyone recognizes the famous "Washington crossing the Delaware" painting by Leutze. It describes that battle, how they snuck up over the Christmas holidays, and were able to take advantage of the hired hessians keeping watch on Trenton. That battle was engaging, but you have to wait until the end to get to it. It closes up with a brief on how the battle would go on until 1783. It has surprisingly little about the rest of the forefathers drawing up the little document "declaration of independence". Perhaps this isn't the author's best work, I probably should have started with John Adams.