The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, 1763-1789 (Oxford History of the United States) |...

The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, 1763-1789 (Oxford History of the United States) | Robert Middlekauff | A VERY INFORMATIVE WORK!

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The Glorious Cause...

	The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, 1763-1789 (Oxford History of the United States) Robert Middlekauff Oxford University Press, USA, 2007 - 752 pages average customer review:based on 45 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

One of the best about this period.

This book gives you a lot of respect for the genius of the founding fathers and how it was not just that as a group they were even more brilliant than individually, but that each faction won their way when in hindsight, they were the ones with the best approach. It gives a lot of credence to the saying "God looks over fools and the United States of America".

I think this is simply the best book for a wide view of how the United States became a country (and almost didn't many many times) and how it's structure was set then to become what it is today.

For the best second book about this period, the new Alexander Hamilton biography.

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A VERY INFORMATIVE WORK!

For the most part, I enjoyed this one and found if very, very informative. The author is quite detailed in his writing and the book appears to have been very well researched. I did enjoy the footnoting and found the notes most helpful. Unlike other reviewers, I did find this not to be the easiest of reads. I suppose much of that was due to my lack of knowledge of English law. I also found it quite difficult, at times, to follow the numerous characters. I did find it easier one I finally caught on to the author's style. The book addresses the cause of the revolution quite well and the author is quite detailed. This work would perhaps be more appreciated by those quite interested in the politics of the situation, examined from both the American and British point of view. I did find this interesting, if somewhat boring at times. The author does repeat himself a lot. The author does assume that the reader does know something of the subject and this leads to some mad dashes for reference books, anyway it certainly did on my part. (This of course is my defect, not necessarily the authors). All in all I would highly recommend this one. I learned a lot from it, and for that I a grateful I read it.

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The Best One Volume History.

If you are goign to read one book on the American Revolutionary War, this one is an excellent candidate. It starts in 1763, during the years leading up to the actual conflict. It ends in 1789 with Washington as president and the ratification of the constitution.

Covering this many years, the book has to be big, and it is. And by including so much material, a lot of material may not be of interest to all readers. For instance, as you would expect, a major part of the book is taken up with the battles fought between the Americans and the British. But there is also a lot of material on the earlier battles with the French and Indians, and a lot on the various debates among the colonists on very fundamental issues such as reconcile their troubles with England or fight the strongest army in the world over what they would consider to be treason; and on the basic question of slave holding.

An area I particularly enjoyed was the discussion of the writing of the constitution. Starting from scratch how would you set up a government of checks and balances? Hou would you define something that would still be around more than 200 years later with relatively few changes?

Today the two parties seem to be at each others throat even more than in the past. But this is probably not true. Adams called Jefferson 'a howling atheist' in the 1800 campaign, and the articles and letters about Lincoln as vicious as Michael Moore talking about Bush. Still what was done between 1763 and 1789 remains. As much as people complain about the current president, we still consider ourselves Americans and we hold to the constitution - even though we argue a lot about what it says.

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A wonderful and full overview of the Revolutionary War

This is a very good book on the Revolution, or The Glorious Cause. Right from the beginning you get a sense of what Middlekauff is attempting to portray as he describes in detail the major factors that led to the Declaration: debt from the Seven Years War and the taxes that were meant to help recoup that debt. His recursive style - of starting a new chapter by backtracking in order to fill the gaps that are needed in order get back to the timeframe of the previous chapter - is an amazing way to write. I haven't seen much of this style of writing in nonfiction, only in fiction by authors such as Faulkner and Morrison, and it does well in furthering the story along. The additional chapters scattered throughout that explain some of the non war aspects are very helpful and interesting to read.

This is a long read, though, so prepare yourself. It doesn't help that the last 80 or so pages is about the debates at the Constitutional Convention, which is an extremely dry read that should not have been included in the first place. Additionally, there is a focus on the battles fought, so if you prefer not to read about battles than this book would not be for you. All in all, Middlekauff did exactly as he set out to do - even with the Constitutional Convention chapters, since this does fall into the premise of his book - and I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the time period. For those who are also interested in the French and Indian War read Anderson's Crucible of War, which is a perfect lead in to the The Glorious Cause.

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Could a history book be a page turner?

This is a fantastic book. The insight into the intricate affairs which brought the United States into existence is unparalleled. Middlekauff paves the path from colony to Constitution in a manner which is unassuming and understandable to the layperson. I am comforted that today's politicians grapple in much the same way as the Founding Fathers.

I disagree with the a previous reviewer that the battle descriptions are too lengthy. They are detailed and appropriate in that the war was as important as the political process, and perhaps more.

I plan to visit Boston soon and plan to carry along this book for historical reference.

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