976 reviews for:

1776

David McCullough

3.95 AVERAGE

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informative medium-paced

"1776" is vintage McCullough. Briskly told, it places the readers in America's crucial year, showing how the battle for our country was very much a tug-of-war between America and Britain – with each mighty pull from Britain bringing us perilously close the edge. By no means a comprehensive history of the Revolutionary War, "1776" remains a great starting point.
wardellmitchell's profile picture

wardellmitchell's review

5.0
informative tense slow-paced

jdavis117's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 24%

This book was recommended to me and while I was enjoying what I read. When it came time for me to sit down and read, this is just not what I wanted to reach for. I've never been a big revolutionary war history buff but I tried to give this one a go but I think it's just not for me or at the very least just not what I'm feeling like reading right now.

Might get back into later but going down as a DNF for now. No fault to the author, it's not you, it's me lol 
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informative inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

1776 is an extremely detailed recounting of the events that took place during the first year of the American Revolution. Which means that, if you like history, you'll probably appreciate this book. As far as I could tell it was well researched and the information was presented in a way that wasn't overly academic in nature.

With that being said, this isn't exactly the most gripping retelling. It's a bit of an info dump that could easily leave a readers checking how many pages are left. This is mostly due to the fact that it's just a recounting of the American Revolution instead of a story that follows any one character. It's a style that's necessary to give a thorough overview of the events of that year, but it also makes this something that I wouldn't recommend reading in a single sitting. Instead, I'd recommend experiencing this book one of two ways:

1. A drawn out read - reading a section of this book every day over a month or so would be a pretty easy task because the sections of the novel tend to function as mini narratives in which the author focuses on certain battles or events. It'll also give readers a chance to digest the information they're being given because there's an almost overwhelming amount of data here and I'm saying that as someone who has spent a decent amount of time studying this time period.

2. Grab the audiobook - This is the method that I chose and I have to say that this is a really good novel to listen to while driving. It's interesting enough to keep you awake, but not interesting enough to distract you from the road.

So, if you want to learn a lot more about 1776 and the American Revolution, definitely look into this book. It's well worth the time.
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