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Revolutionaries: Inventing an American Nation [Paperback]

Jack Rakove (Author)

3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)

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Book Description

Publication Date: 7 July 2011

In this remarkable book, Jack Rakove offers a new and revealing perspective on the men who shaped the idea of an American nation. Each portrait brims with fresh and fascinating insights: Washington as a flawed tactician but expert manager; Jack Laurens as a slave trader's son who developed a plan to recruit black soldiers; Jefferson as a powerful critic of Europe's social order but a voracious consumer of its culture.

Spanning the most crucial decades of the country's birth, Revolutionaries uses the stories of famous (and not so famous) men to capture - in a way no single biography ever could - the intensely creative period of the republic's founding.

By the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Original Meanings: Politics and Ideas in the Making of the Constitution.

(20040927)

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By the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Original Meanings: Politics and Ideas in the Making of the Constitution.

(20040927)

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Product details

Paperback: 496 pages
Publisher: Vintage (7 July 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0099551861
ISBN-13: 978-0099551867
Product Dimensions: 12.9 x 3.1 x 19.8 cm

Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)

Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 119,550 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Product Description

Review

"Jack Rakove's book is a superb account of the forces that turned the colonists from loyal subjects into revolutionaries... A first-rate read" (Simon Shaw Daily Mail )

"A mighty book... Compelling... Energetic, often eloquent, and spotted with dashes of wry humour. His characterisation of these complex, revolutionary men brings them vividly to life and the analysis of the unprecedented historic circumstances in which they found themselves is definitive. The book is indispensible to understanding the whys and hows of the creation of the United States" (Literary Review )

"Rakov writes beautifully. His prose is crisp and clear... Anyone seeking a readable and well-written guide to the process whereby the rebel colonies became the United States need look no further than Rakove's impressive book" (Stephen Conway BBC History Magazine )

"Deeply researched and elegantly written, this book marks a milestone in the study of America's revolutionary period. It should not be missed" (Annette Gordon-Reed, Author Of The Hemingses Of Monticello )

"Brilliant...By using some marvelous vignettes and beautifully crafted portraits of the principal characters as a means of exploring the crucial issues of the Revolutionary era, [Rakove] has written a remarkable work of history" (Gordon S. Wood )

Book Description

A brilliant and original new history of the American Revolution, told through the lives and minds of the men who led it, doing for the United States what Linda Colley's ground-breaking Britons did for our own country. (20040927)

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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars A worthy read, but not entirely readable or accessible... 13 Nov 2011

By C. Ball TOP 1000 REVIEWER VINE™ VOICE

I wish I could say I thoroughly enjoyed this book, but I didn't. That isn't to say it isn't a good read, because it is, but it's much more informative than enthralling. I found it hard-going but worth persevering with, if that makes any sense!

It's very much a political history of the major characters involved in the Revolution and the creation of the fledging United States, rather than a social or military history of the Revolution itself. I found myself learning far more than I'd ever intended to about the political philosophies of Adams, Hamilton, Jefferson, Madison, Franklin, Jay and Washington. The author is quite clearly an expert in his field and he admirably succeeds in condensing some quite complicated political issues into something accessible.

What I found of particular note was his exploration of how the colonists turned from loyalists with a particular set of issues and concerns to revolutionaries intent of independence and forging a new nation. Despite the myths and legends, independence was never a foregone conclusion, and it seems that the British crown and parliament couldn't have mishandled the entire situation more badly if they'd tried.

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