American Revolutions: A Continental History, 1750-1804 - Softcover

Taylor, Alan

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9780393354768: American Revolutions: A Continental History, 1750-1804
Softcover
ISBN 10: 0393354768 ISBN 13: 9780393354768
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 2017

Synopsis

Alan Taylor is featured in THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, a film by Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein, and David Schmidt on PBS

"Excellent…deserves high praise. Mr. Taylor conveys this sprawling continental history with economy, clarity, and vividness." ―Brendan Simms, Wall Street Journal

The American Revolution is often portrayed as a high-minded, orderly event whose capstone, the Constitution, provided the nation its democratic framework. Alan Taylor, a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, gives us a different creation story in this magisterial history. The American Revolution builds like a ground fire overspreading Britain’s colonies, fueled by local conditions and resistant to control. Emerging from the continental rivalries of European empires and their native allies, the revolution pivoted on western expansion as well as seaboard resistance to British taxes. When war erupted, Patriot crowds harassed Loyalists and nonpartisans into compliance with their cause. The war exploded in set battles like Saratoga and Yorktown and spread through continuing frontier violence.

The discord smoldering within the fragile new nation called forth a movement to concentrate power through a Federal Constitution. Assuming the mantle of “We the People,” the advocates of national power ratified the new frame of government. But it was Jefferson’s expansive “empire of liberty” that carried the revolution forward, propelling white settlement and slavery west, preparing the ground for a new conflagration.

37 illustrations; 10 maps

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About the Author

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.

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Publisher
W. W. Norton & Company
Publication date
2017
Language
English
ISBN 10 
0393354768
ISBN 13 
9780393354768
Binding
Paperback
Number of pages
704
Rating
  • 4.26 out of 5 stars
    1,666 ratings by Goodreads

Other Popular Editions of the Same Title

9780393082814: American Revolutions: A Continental History, 1750-1804

Featured Edition

ISBN 10:  0393082814 ISBN 13:  9780393082814
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 2016
Hardcover