American Revolutions
A Continental History, 1750-1804
Published on 6. September 2016
Book
Hardback
704 pages
978-0-393-08281-4 (ISBN)
Description
Often understood as a high-minded, orderly event, the American Revolution grows in this masterful history like a ground fire overspreading Britain's mainland colonies, fuelled by local conditions and resistant to control. Emerging from the rivalries of European empires and their allies, the revolution pivoted on western expansion as well as resistance to new British taxes. In the seaboard cities, leading Patriots mobilised popular support by summoning crowds to harass opponents. Along the frontier, the war often featured guerrilla violence that persisted long after the peace treaty. The smouldering discord called forth a movement to consolidate power in a Federal Constitution but it was Jefferson's "empire of liberty" that carried the Revolution forward. This magisterial history reveals the American Revolution in its time, free of wishful hindsight.
Reviews / Votes
"An epic, landmark history that places the American Revolution on a global stage while never losing sight of the struggles and sufferings of major and minor characters... Taylor's range is masterful." -- Jill Lepore, author of Book of Ages: The Life and Opinions of Jane Franklin "American Revolutions is a game changer-a sprawling, ambitious history that forever alters our understanding of the Revolutionary War era." -- Elizabeth Fenn, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Encounters at the Heart of the World: A History of the Mandan People "As masterful as its author and as pluralist as its title, American Revolutions combines strong narrative drive with a kaleidoscopic array of settings and characters. In vivid prose animated by prodigious research, Taylor reveals the fight for the independence of the United States as a bloody civil war in which violence and division were the norms and clarity of purpose the exception. This is a sweeping synthesis for a new century." -- Jane Kamensky, author of A Revolution in Color: The World of John Singleton Copley "The new standard work-essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the complicated beginnings of our national history." -- Peter S. Onuf, coauthor of "Most Blessed of the Patriarchs": Thomas Jefferson and the Empire of the ImaginationMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Illustrations
37 illustrations; 10 maps
Dimensions
Height: 244 mm
Width: 168 mm
Thickness: 46 mm
Weight
1109 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-393-08281-4 (9780393082814)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
09/2016
W. W. Norton & Company
€20.49
Available for download
Person
Alan Taylor, one of our leading historians, is a two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize in history. His many books include American Revolutions, the standard account, and, most recently, American Civil Wars. He is the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Virginia.