1776 Book Review Essay PDF

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1776 Book Review Essay...

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Book Review-1776

Upon getting the assignment to read David McCullough's 1776, I was quite excited. I had heard many great things about this book and was glad I had a real reason to read it. While I did not read it as quickly as I had hoped, because I had a lot of others things going on, once I finished it, I was glad I did. Because it was a history book, I was worried I would have a hard time following along because of its period language, but I was surprised how easy it was to actually read. I very much enjoyed that it had many quotes from original documents because it gave me a better feel for the time about which it was written. In my opinion, the best thing about the book was the fact it delivers history as a story. McCullough was able to keep the book constantly moving through each of the events and battles without adding too many uninteresting facts to slow it down. Another reason I liked the book was because the way McCullough not only revolved the whole book around the legendary George Washington, but also that he included the personal histories of many of the other men in charge of each military division. By McCullough doing this, I was able to see from where each man came, and how he ending up being part of the military. Some of my favorite leaders about whom I learned many new things included George Washington, Nathanael Green and Henry Knox. General George Washington was from Virginia, and in my opinion, was

born to be a leader. What surprised me was how little education and prior military experience he had. I was unaware that he was also a slave owner as well. I learned that his wife Mary Custis Washington was a widow; I had previously assumed that Washington was her first husband--I had assumed they got married young. One thing I found interesting about Washington was how much time he put into studying his enemies prior to attacks, and he rarely did things without thoroughly thinking it through. A quote from James Thacher describes Washington perfectly. "It was not difficult to distinguish him from all the others. His personal appearance is truly noble and majestic, being tall and well-proportioned.” Throughout my reading of this book, I found all the evidence to support this description. Had I met him, I am sure I would agree even more. Washington was one of a kind. I can not conceive of anyone else who, without any experience, could have assembled and lead an army comprised of young boys, schoolteachers, farmers and others who had no idea what they were doing and still had have faith and hope that everything was going to work out in the end. As Washington said, “perseverance and spirit have done wonders in all ages,” and he certainly proved that. Compared to Washington, I had little or no prior knowledge about anyone else in the book. I had heard the names of a few of the principle figures, but if I were asked what they did and what their contributions were, I would have nothing to contribute. This being said, Nathanael Greene was another of my favorites from 1776. He was a good friend of Washington, and

because I really like friends, he made it to the top of my list. I learned that Greene had no formal education and was also a self-taught man. Like Washington, he learned most everything through reading books. Greene also had no battle experience except from what he gained from reading books. Henry Knox was someone else I found interesting. He grew up in a large family in Boston, and just like Washington and Greene, he was mostly self-educated. Greene, Knox and Washington all become close, and Knox ended up spending most of his time helping strategize things for the war. One of my favorite quotes in the book from Henry Knox is “We want great men who, when fortune frowns, will not be discouraged.” While it doesn't show much of the type of man Knox it is, it is a great quote. History needed people like this to help fight, it amazes me that they found enough on our side. Not only did all characterizations of the various people help make the book become one of my favorites but also the way it was written as a whole. One of the things that I enjoyed most about the book was that many letters to friends and family back home and documents from the time were included. By McCullough including all these different accounts, it makes one feel as if the reader were right there by their side. I also liked how in these letters each of the writers kept them brief while at the same time included much detail such as the concerns and feelings they had, the struggles with which they were dealing, and even their descriptions of the weather. By including those details in their letters, it helped bring history to life for me.

My favorite part of the book was when McCullough wrote about the month of December 1776. I had little prior knowledge of the events that happened that month and how important it was so to me. One thing I was astonished to learn was that only two thousand American troops remained at the beginning of the month. My absolute favorite part though was the night of December 24th. After Washington divided his men into three different forces who would all go different directions, only one was able to actually advance. The one led by Washington, Green, Lord Sterling, and Sullivan that had to cross nine miles upstream at McKonky’s Ferry, was the only one that did not have to retreat. Because of this, I though there would be no hope that they would be able to defeat the Hessians, especially because it was cold, wet and the troops were all tired and exhausted. But after Capitan Rall, the Hessian leader, received a second warning of Washington’s attack and ignored it, I gained hope. The battle began at 8 am, and despite having marched the pervious night, Washington’s soldiers fought valiantly. That right there was amazing! I can hardly even stay awake all night let alone fight the next morning! After Rall was shot and killed, the Hessians surrendered, and I can’t blame them. One thing I found amazing was that only four Americans were wounded, and none were killed. I thought that was great compared to the Hessians where 90 were wounded and 21 were killed. After the battle, Washington offered money to those remaining troops who would stay six more months. I guess I never realized how much inflation has occurred; I was surprised that the

price was only ten dollars. After reading the book, I thought it was amazing how a group of untrained, poorly-feed and unclean men could fight so hard and never give up. I also cannot get over the fact that Washington had never been in war before and relied on books to learn everything he knew, and that he was able to do so much with so little. Now I am a little less ignorant of American history than I was before starting this book. I also now have the desire to continue to read and learn more so that I can be more educated on the founding of our nation and how it came to be....