Duty Honor Country
Active member
On my long road trip to Maine and back, I got the full audio CD version of 1776. 2600 miles later and 13 hours of listening, I must say this book is an all around great book on history that is not politically correct.
The book basically covers late 1775 as the King addresses the rebellion, all of 1776 and up to Washington's attack on Trenton in 1777. McCullough tells the story from the British and American side with great detail. He includes quotes from King George, great generals, British parliament debates, wifes, buck privates and many more figures.
McCullough does make mention of how some Americans believed that there was some divine intervention during the war. The fog that covered the American's retreat from Long Island is a great example of this.
I did read some complaints that McCullough did not cover Washington enough. I do not see this as warranted since the book covers all of 1776 and not just Washington's part. I do remember a lot of quotes coming from Washington's diary. There were a lot events in the book that I never remember reading before. After the defeat at Long Island and New York, General Howe offered the Americans total amnesty if they swore allegiance to the King. 2 of the signers of the Declaration of Independence walked to the other side along with thousands of American deserters. Today's history books fail to tell that bit of info
The book basically covers late 1775 as the King addresses the rebellion, all of 1776 and up to Washington's attack on Trenton in 1777. McCullough tells the story from the British and American side with great detail. He includes quotes from King George, great generals, British parliament debates, wifes, buck privates and many more figures.
McCullough does make mention of how some Americans believed that there was some divine intervention during the war. The fog that covered the American's retreat from Long Island is a great example of this.
I did read some complaints that McCullough did not cover Washington enough. I do not see this as warranted since the book covers all of 1776 and not just Washington's part. I do remember a lot of quotes coming from Washington's diary. There were a lot events in the book that I never remember reading before. After the defeat at Long Island and New York, General Howe offered the Americans total amnesty if they swore allegiance to the King. 2 of the signers of the Declaration of Independence walked to the other side along with thousands of American deserters. Today's history books fail to tell that bit of info