Alex Daniel's Reviews > 1776

1776 by David McCullough
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ALTERNATE TITLE: "IT'S A COUNTRY! CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR NEW SOVEREIGN STATE."

This book is about a year and about a place. Historian/author David McCullough follows the titular year of American history: there are multiple characters, locations, and ideas. Rather than take on the whole American Revolution, McCullough zeroes in on one year. More than anything, 1776 is a military narrative, and we, more than anything else, follow George Washington as he commands this ragtag group of colonists.

Focusing on one year hamstrings 1776 in a couple of important ways. We, the audience, don't have access to the beginning or end of the war. We're not able to really follow characters' lives: instead, we just drop in on these historical figures in media res. Anyways, instead of getting a comprehensive view of the war and all that comes with it, we get a snippet of it. This is travel-sized war. Fun-size war. Mini-war.

Here's what I really liked about it: George Washington is given an interesting profile. He's both larger-than-life and intensely human. We see his flaws, but we also see his glory. McCullough, in making George Washington a person rather than a six-story tall legend, makes him more inspirational than more historical narratives.
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Reading Progress

July 28, 2015 – Started Reading
July 28, 2015 – Shelved
August 1, 2015 – Finished Reading

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