The Founding of a Nation: A History of the American Revolution, 1763-1776

by Merrill Jensen

Description

"This wonderfully rich volume challenges those who claim that political history is arid, narrow, or worse, irrelevant to our own concerns. Jensen's study explores popular political mobilization on the eve of American independence. It reconstructs the complex decisions that slowly, often painfully transformed a colonial rebellion into a genuine revolution. Jensen's well-paced narrative never loses sight of the ordinary men and women who confronted the most powerful empire in the world." show more --T.H. Breen, William Smith Mason Professor of American History, Northwestern University show less

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patito-de-hule 54 reviews

John Adams wrote in 1825 that many people conflate the American Revolution with the War of Rebellion. The former took place in 1760-1776 and the latter from 1776-1783. In that sense, this book covers the American Revolution starting with the close of the French and American War in 1763.

This book, then, covers the events and transformation of ideas up to the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Jensen is an impeccable historian and a true scholar of the period. While I may have some reservations about his interpretation of certain things, they are important ideas and I find I have learned a great deal in reading this book. It is the best book on the American Revolution I have ever read.

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