1776 (George Will reviews David McCullough's new book)

Townhall.com ^ | July 3, 2005 | George Will

[Vision Thing]

WASHINGTON -- When George Washington, in a spiffy uniform of buff and blue and sitting his horse with a grace uncommon even among Virginians vain about their horsemanship, arrived outside Boston in July 1775 to assume command of the American rebellion, he was aghast. When he got a gander at his troops, mostly New Englanders, his reaction was akin to the Duke of Wellington's assessment of his troops, many of them the sweepings of Britain's slums, during the Peninsular War: ``I don't know what effect these men will have upon the enemy, but, by God, they terrify me.''

[68skylark]

Do any freepers want to give a quick review of this book?

I haven't read it. But I really enjoyed his book on John Adams.

[Atlas Sneezed]

SPOILER ALERT:






(The redcoats lose.)

[B4Ranch]

In case folks want to encourage the Weare, N.H., selectmen
who have the power to take Judge Souter's house by eminent
domain so that it can be replaced by a higher-tax-paying hotel,
here are the Selectmen's addresses.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Board of Selectmen in general: office@weare.nh.gov

The Chair is Laura Buono: lbuono@weare.nh.gov

Vice-Chair is Leon Methot: lmethot@weare.nh.gov

Heleen Kurk: hkurk@weare.nh.gov

Joseph Fiala: jfiala@weare.nh.gov

Donna Osborne: dosborne@weare.nh.gov

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Please send six polite but firm emails in honor of
The Declaration of Independence of the Thirteen Colonies In CONGRESS, July 4, 1776

[Vision Thing]

I haven't read it yet either. However, I read McCullough's Truman. It's an amazing book. McCullough is a great writer. As George Will explains in his review, McCullogh doesn't spit out facts. Instead, McCullough tells a gripping story using historical facts. I can only guess that this is hard to accomplish.

[Vision Thing]

LOL!

Well, there's more to it than that. Here's what George Will has to say about the book:

McCullough's two themes in ``1776'' are that things could have turned out very differently, and that individuals of character can change the destinies of nations.

[So Cal Rocket]

I "listened" to the book in my car on my daily commute (unabridged CD version). McC is quite the story teller and the themes of the book come through quite clearly - that only through the leadership of men like Washington, Knox, Greene and a little bit of Providence did our nation become independent.

McC did quite a bit of research, and his use of letters from "everyday men" who fought for our independence gives you the flavor of what it might have been like to face an enemy who outmanned you, outgunned you, and outmanuevered you.

What I found striking how well you got to understand how warfare has changed over the past two centuries... not knowing where the enemy was, even though they were only a few miles away, how weather was so important (and always seemed to favor the Americans - prevailing winds kept the British Navy out of the East River, fog enabled Washington to evacuate the troops from Brooklyn, heavy snowfall masked the sounds of Washington's troops advancing on Trenton on Christmas Day).

I highly recommend the book... having "heard" it, I purchased the printed version to read on my vacation.

[Vision Thing]

Thanks for the analysis and some of the details from the book, So Cal Rocket!

Looks like leadership and luck got us to where we are today. On this Fourth of July weekend, let's pray that this country never lacks for either of them.

[flixxx]

Thanks for posting this George Will editorial...I ran out of time this AM or I would have...I have not read '1776' yet, but I just got 'John Adams' and plan to read it first. I also liked 'Founding Brothers' by Ellis (even though he ran into some problems with his own biography---lied about Vietnam service, etc)...oh well, McCoullough is impressive...I still get goosebumps when I watch the 'Civil War' repeats on PBS with him narrating.

[e5man_r_u?]

I completely agree about the Adams' bio. It was great. I found out that there was much I did not know about the man. What I learned caused me to admire him far more than I did.

[Mulder]

I'm in the process of reading this book too. I really like it.

[pleasedontzotme]

Make sure to catch "Truman"...it's been twelve years since I've read it and I'm still in awe...

[hosepipe]

If George Will had any balls he would review the new Klein book on Hillary.. He don't, and didn't. George Will is a women.. a democrat woman.. Will never takes any chances that might dismay his captors, the liberal press..

[flixxx]

Thanks! It is on my list of books to read...My wife and I plan to go to the Truman Presidential Museum/Library in the next few months so that is more reason to pick up the book.

[missanne]

I loved this book...bought the audio unabridged version along with the book. The way the author writes, it reads like a novel. However, my all time favorite book on the Revolutionary War is Patriots: The Men who Started the American Revolution by Languth. It starts the book about 100 years prior to 1776 helping the reader to understand all the issues protested in the Declaration in a way I've never seen before. It also gave me a great appreciation for Samuel Adams who patiently laid the groundwork for freedom 20 plus years before....What patience and patriotism!

[alessandrofiaschi]

GREAT POST! BUMP!

[GVnana]

Will makes a great recommendation. I'll definitely buy it.

[Vision Thing]

Thanks for posting this George Will editorial...I ran out of time this AM or I would have

I posted the entire article, and the FR servers accepted it. However, later on, one of the mods converted the post into an excerpt. Too bad. The entire article is great.

I'm far behind you on catching up with McCollough's writing. I stopped at Truman, and I want to read John Adams before I read 1776.

[Vision Thing]

If George Will had any balls he would review the new Klein book on Hillary.. He don't, and didn't. George Will is a women.. a democrat woman.. Will never takes any chances that might dismay his captors, the liberal press..

LOL! If George Will reviewed Klein, it would be way out of character for him. However, if it's womanly for him to ignore Klein, well that's another question. Besides, he's reviewing a book about our Founding Fathers, not one of our effeminate Senators. As a result, we cannot accuse of being too womanly.

As for your accusation that Will kowtows to his so-called "liberal captors", I beg to differ. I always see him pressing conservative points of view on TV, and his liberal cohorts (not captors) merely ignore him.