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The American Revolution: A History Paperback – 1 January 1900

by Gordon S Wood (Author)

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Book 9 of 33: Modern Library Chronicles Series

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NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

"An elegant synthesis done by the leading scholar in the field, which nicely integrates the work on the American Revolution over the last three decades but never loses contact with the older, classic questions that we have been arguing about for over two hundred years."--Joseph J. Ellis, author of Founding Brothers

A magnificent account of the revolution in arms and consciousness that gave birth to the American republic.

When Abraham Lincoln sought to define the significance of the United States, he naturally looked back to the American Revolution. He knew that the Revolution not only had legally created the United States, but also had produced all of the great hopes and values of the American people. Our noblest ideals and aspirations-our commitments to freedom, constitutionalism, the well-being of ordinary people, and equality-came out of the Revolutionary era. Lincoln saw as well that the Revolution had convinced Americans that they were a special people with a special destiny to lead the world toward liberty. The Revolution, in short, gave birth to whatever sense of nationhood and national purpose Americans have had.

No doubt the story is a dramatic one: Thirteen insignificant colonies three thousand miles from the centers of Western civilization fought off British rule to become, in fewer than three decades, a huge, sprawling, rambunctious republic of nearly four million citizens. But the history of the American Revolution, like the history of the nation as a whole, ought not to be viewed simply as a story of right and wrong from which moral lessons are to be drawn. It is a complicated and at times ironic story that needs to be explained and understood, not blindly celebrated or condemned. How did this great revolution come about? What was its character? What were its consequences? These are the questions this short history seeks to answer. That it succeeds in such a profound and enthralling way is a tribute to Gordon Wood's mastery of his subject, and of the historian's craft.

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ISBN-10

0812970411
ISBN-13

978-0812970418
Publisher

Modern Library
Publication date

1 January 1900
Book 9 of 33

Modern Library Chronicles Series
Language

English
Dimensions

12.95 x 1.17 x 20.07 cm
Print length

224 pages
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Gordon S. Wood
426
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Joseph J Ellis
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Bernard Bailyn
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Review

"Remarkable, invaluable."--Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post Book World

"Wood is the preeminent historian of the Revolution. . . . Here . . . he manages to boil down to its essence this crucial period in the country's history without in the process reducing it to History Lite. . . . His account of the emergence and development of rank-and-file political opinion is especially provocative and informative, but then so is just about everything else in this remarkable, invaluable book."--The Washington Post Book World

"An elegant, concise and lucid summary of the Revolution's origins, the war itself, and the social and political changes wrought by the struggle for American independence."--The Wall Street Journal

"This slim book tells a big story: one that invites the reader to contemplate the relationships between liberty, power, rights and the unpredictable outcomes of human action."--Los Angeles Times Book Review

"An elegant synthesis done by the leading scholar in the field, which nicely integrates the work on the American Revolution over the last three decades but never loses contact with the older, classic questions that we have been arguing about for over two hundred years."--Joseph J. Ellis, author of Founding Brothers

From the Back Cover

"An elegant synthesis done by the leading scholar in the field, which nicely integrates the work on the American Revolution over the last three decades but never loses contact with the older, classic questions that we have been arguing about for over two hundred years."
-Joseph J. Ellis, author of Founding Brothers
A magnificent account of the revolution in arms and consciousness that gave birth to the American republic.
When Abraham Lincoln sought to define the significance of the United States, he naturally looked back to the American Revolution. He knew that the Revolution not only had legally created the United States, but also had produced all of the great hopes and values of the American people. Our noblest ideals and aspirations-our commitments to freedom, constitutionalism, the well-being of ordinary people, and equality-came out of the Revolutionary era. Lincoln saw as well that the Revolution had convinced Americans that they were a special people with a special destiny to lead the world toward liberty. The Revolution, in short, gave birth to whatever sense of nationhood and national purpose Americans have had.
No doubt the story is a dramatic one: Thirteen insignificant colonies three thousand miles from the centers of Western civilization fought off British rule to become, in fewer than three decades, a huge, sprawling, rambunctious republic of nearly four million citizens. But the history of the American Revolution, like the history of the nation as a whole, ought not to be viewed simply as a story of right and wrong from which moral lessons are to be drawn. It is a complicated and at times ironic story that needs to be explained and understood, not blindlycelebrated or condemned. How did this great revolution come about? What was its character? What were its consequences? These are the questions this short history seeks to answer. That it succeeds in such a profound and enthralling way is a tribute to Gordon Wood's mastery of his subject, and of the historian's craft.

"From the Hardcover edition.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Modern Library (1 January 1900)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 224 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0812970411
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0812970418
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 12.95 x 1.17 x 20.07 cm

Best Sellers Rank: 23,862 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Gordon S. Wood

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Gordon S. Wood is Alva O. Way Professor of History Emeritus at Brown University. His books include the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Radicalism of the American Revolution, the Bancroft Prize-winning The Creation of the American Republic, 1776-1787, The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin, and The Purpose of the Past: Reflections on the Uses of History. He writes frequently for The New York Review of Books and The New Republic.

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richard e whitelock

FOR DREAMERS ONLY

Reviewed in the United States on 2 June 2015

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This is a concise book written about the American Revolution War. It is subtitled as a history. The author, Gordon S. Woods received his PhD from Harvard and since 1969 he has taught history at Brown University. He is even a Pulitzer Prize for The Radicalism of the American Revolution in 1993. He is a well traveled and studied author and educator. And he writes very well.

He eloquently describes how a Rabble In Arms, with a universal idea of freedom, over three decades defeated the world's mightiest army, wrote a constitution, fought a second war known as the War of 1812, and set on a world course the greatest nation filled with free people the world has ever known. It is a very unlikely story with the odds stacked against the rebels, and yet they overcame every obstacle imaginable and through world class leadership withstood all the attempts of others to bring the new nation to its knees. When the United States officially won its freedom in 1784, as a nation we started with absolutely no institutions with any history and experience behind them. We wanted our individual independence and yet we were apprehensive to submit to a federal government. And with out a strong centralized government, we couldn't control the independent colonies (states), engage in domestic as well as international trade, develop a banking system with one monies, raise an army and defend against local unrest and international rebellion.

Dr. Wood carefully takes the reader from the growth and movement of the colonial population to our Federal Constitution (circa 1787).. It is a marvelous story of intrigue, national devastation and a fight to gain and secure our independence. And finally we had to put in place a mechanism that would insure reasonable states' rights and yet maintain a strong central government. No nation had ever attempted this style of government. A truly free republic with checks and balances written into the very articles that would insure our survival as a nation.

Everything our Founding Fathers and legislators later did and did over a number of times, had never been tried before. They truly created these United States of America against all odds. And Dr. Woods lays the drama out where we can clearly understand what was going on and at the same time wonder how in the world it ever got done. What a saga and what a book.

5 people found this helpful

C. Ebeling

Deftly Captures An Extraordinary Turn In Human Events

Reviewed in the United States on 6 February 2004

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With less than 200 pages of text, you may well think that Wood's THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION is no more than historical Cliffs Notes. It rises above that level as a decent read and a refresher for general readers who have not revisited this part of history since school.
As Wood notes in his preface, there is a tendency among some contemporary revisionists to downplay the significance of the American Revolution, to challenge its revolutionary stature because it did not fully achieve the full equality of humankind at the one time. In clean, practical fact-driven prose, he ably responds with a picture of an extraordinary coalescence of intellectual, social and political change that forged not only a new nation and way of governance, but one that quickly emerged as a world leader. Wood deftly sorts out the origins and spurs that produced the tensions in the colonies and in Britain, reviews the highlights of the war, and then visits the newly formed United States of America as its people try on their new identity and begin to build a new way of being. It ends with the production of the Constitution and Bill of Rights.
The central engine of the book is based in the ideas, particularly of the Enlightenment, that drove the Revolution. Only the most significant players make appearances, such as Patrick Henry, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and King George III. This is not the book to go looking for Betsy Ross or Nathan Hale. What struck this reader most of all were the issues that America faced as it took on the mantle of freedom. Many of the original tensions are still with us, and probably always will be given how democracy embraces diverse people and agenda. Wood's calm rendering of this period inspires wonder at what was in fact achieved.

16 people found this helpful

Bob Taylor

Excellent short guide to revolution

Reviewed in Canada on 14 February 2024

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This book and the wonderful Taming Democracy by Terry Bouton describe how the ideals of the revolution were laid aside in the struggle to build a nation. Read about Robert Morris of Pennsylvania, and meditate on the futility of striving for success.

Lawrence Roberts

Good, short, concise and informative

Reviewed in the United States on 11 August 2017

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Good, concise summary of the Revolution and its causes. I like Professor Wood's analyses in general, and would recommend anything I have read that he has written about this era in American history. Wood gets very much into the political theory that the Founders knew. He tries to juxtapose all of that political theory from England, Scotland, France, and even Italy onto the thinking, motivation, and rationale that the patriots had for causing a revolution. He does it quite well in such a short book. You should read this. Wood is just trying to put some perspective on the Revolution in terms not only of the colonial heroes who pushed it into a war, but onto the political history of their roots, their lifestyle and governance as colonials, and the forces of British government that pushed them over the brink. Yes, read it.

14 people found this helpful

Trader73

A Must Read!

Reviewed in the United States on 29 April 2022

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Purchased this book primarily because of Professor Woods’ scholarship regarding 18th century America and my own interest in the era. Did not know what to expect from such a short volume on such a broad subject, but I was overwhelmed by the depth of analysis and interpretation given by Professor Wood. I’m still not 100% sure how to characterize the contents of this book: a brief history of actual events? Yes. An overview of the philosophical underpinnings of The Revolution? Yes. A logical explanation of its causes and outcomes? Yes. An analysis of how The Revolution affects us still today? Yes. And much more…. Every American should read this book—especially the chapter on Republicanism—to see from whence we came.

4 people found this helpful

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