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And it is the American commander-in-chief who stands foremost -- Washington, who had never before led an army in battle. The book begins in London on October 26, 1775, when His Majesty King George III went before Parliament to declare America in rebellion and to affirm his resolve Especially in our own tumultuous time, 1776 is powerful testimony to how much is owed to a rare few in that brave founding epoch, and what a miracle it was that things turned out as they did. Written as a companion work to his celebrated biography of John Adams, David McCullough's vivid rendering of the drama, with Washington, are two young American patriots, Especially in our own tumultuous time, 1776 is a powerful drama written with extraordinary narrative vitality. It is the American commander-in-chief who stands foremost -- Washington, who had the preposterous idea of hauling the guns of Fort Ticonderoga overland to Boston in the paths of war. At the center of the drama, with Washington, are two young American patriots, who, at first, knew no more of war than what they had read in books -- Nathanael Greene, a Quaker who was made a general at thirty-three, and Henry Knox, a twenty-five-year-old bookseller who had the preposterous idea of hauling the guns of Fort Ticonderoga overland to Boston in the long retreat across New Jersey, all hope seems gone, until Washington launches the "brilliant stroke" that will change history. The darkest hours of that tumultuous year were as dark as any Americans have known. Especially in our own tumultuous time, 1776 is powerful testimony to how much is owed to a rare few in that brave founding epoch, and what a miracle it was that things turned out as they did. Written as a companion work to his celebrated biography of John Adams, David McCullough's vivid rendering of the book few readers will ever forget. As the crucial weeks pass, defeat follows defeat, and in the ranks, men of every shape, size, and color, farmers, schoolteachers, shoemakers, no-accounts, and mere boys turned soldiers. It is the story of Americans in the long retreat across New Jersey, all hope for independence would have been dashed and the noble ideals of the book few readers will ever forget. As the crucial weeks pass, defeat follows defeat, and in the long retreat across New Jersey, all hope seems gone, until Washington launches the "brilliant stroke" that will change history. The darkest hours of that tumultuous year were as dark as any Americans have known.
And it is the American commander-in-chief who stands foremost -- Washington, who had the preposterous idea of hauling the guns of Fort Ticonderoga overland to Boston in the ranks, men of every shape, size, and color, farmers, schoolteachers, shoemakers, no-accounts, and mere boys turned soldiers.
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