With his riveting, enlightening accounts of subjects from Johnstown Flood to John Adams, David McCullough has become the historian that Americans look to most to tell us our own story. In his Amazon.com interview, McCullough explains why he turned in his new book from the political battles of the Revolution to the battles on the ground, and he marvels at some of his favorite young citizen soldiers who fought alongside the remarkable General Washington.
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Bestselling historian and two-time Pulitzer winner McCullough follows up John Adams by staying with America's founding, focusing on a year rather than an individual: a momentous 12 months in the fight for independence. How did a group of ragtag farmers defeat the world's greatest empire? As McCullough vividly shows, they did it with a great deal of suffering, determination, ingenuity—and, the author notes, luck.Although brief by McCullough's standards, this is a narrative tour de force, exhibiting all the hallmarks the author is known for: fascinating subject matter, expert research and detailed, graceful prose. Throughout, McCullough deftly captures both sides of the conflict. The British commander, Lord General Howe, perhaps not fully accepting that the rebellion could succeed, underestimated the Americans' ingenuity. In turn, the outclassed Americans used the cover of night, surprise and an abiding hunger for victory to astonishing effect. Henry Knox, for example, trekked 300 miles each way over harsh winter terrain to bring 120,000 pounds of artillery from Fort Ticonderoga to Boston, enabling the Americans, in a stealthy nighttime advance, to seize Dorchester Heights, thus winning the whole city.Luck, McCullough writes, also played into the American cause—a vicious winter storm, for example, stalled a British counterattack at Boston, and twice Washington staged improbable, daring escapes when the war could have been lost. Similarly, McCullough says, the cruel northeaster in which Washington's troops famously crossed the Delaware was both "a blessing and a curse." McCullough keenly renders the harshness of the elements, the rampant disease and the constant supply shortfalls, from gunpowder to food, that affected morale on both sides—and it certainly didn't help the British that it took six weeks to relay news to and from London. Simply put, this is history writing at its best from one of its top practitioners.
It is an amazing book by David McCullough who has won his Pulitzer Prize by the book of "John Adams". As an historian, McCullough concentrated on not only the astronomical (at least to me) collection of facts and evidence but also the organization of them...
评分It is an amazing book by David McCullough who has won his Pulitzer Prize by the book of "John Adams". As an historian, McCullough concentrated on not only the astronomical (at least to me) collection of facts and evidence but also the organization of them...
David McCullough当真会写历史,这样的历史读原版会更吸引人,用词很值得赞赏,通俗性和生动性兼具,每个人的描写都很有特色很鲜明,细节非常棒又不啰嗦。
评分书是很好的书,故事的收放都很好,没有刻意塑造偶像,各种引文穿插得也很流畅。但整本书是讲1776年的华盛顿与英军交战,并未对潘恩的《常识》,《独立宣言》的起草做交待。有点过于单线条,缺乏全局视角。这样一来,独立史又变成了战争中的英雄史。
评分History told as story - easy reading. Audio book read by the author himself.
评分题材的缘故吧 McCullough 的特点就像是很夸张地喝了一杯浓浓的白开水
评分题材的缘故吧 McCullough 的特点就像是很夸张地喝了一杯浓浓的白开水
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