Publisher Description
The preeminent historian of the Founding Era reflects on the birth of American nationhood and explains why the American Revolution remains so essential.
For Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Gordon S. Wood, the American Revolution is the most important event in our history, bar none. Since American identity is so fluid, we have had to continually return to our nation’s founding to understand who we are. In a series of illuminating essays, he explores the ideological origins of the Revolution—from ancient Rome to the Enlightenment—and the founders’ attempts to forge a democracy. He reflects on the origins of American exceptionalism, the radicalism and failed hopes of the founding generation, and the “terrifying gap” between us and the men who created the democratic state we take for granted.
This is a profoundly revealing look at the event that forged the United States and its enduring power to define us.Â
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“My first real introduction into the mindset of America pre 1776. The book begs additional reading before you can set an opinion of the idea of America. ThIs book is not and end to concept or understanding, but a beginning. Be ready to add like books to your must read list.”
—
Jim (4 out of 5 stars)
