The American Revolution (Universal History) - Hardcover

"Professor Wood of Brown University, a distinguished expert on the period, has the difficult but invigorating task of condensing this immensely complex topic into 180 or so pages. He does so with commendable clarity and (on the whole) admirable judgement. For most people here is everything they need to know about this deonator of the modern world." Paul Johnson, MAIL ON SUNDAY

The noblest ideals and aspirations of the peoples of the United States of America - its commitment to freedom, constitutionality and equality - came out of the Revolutionary era. The story is a dramatic one. Thirteen insignificant colonies of His Britannic Majesty King George III, three thousand miles from the centres of Western civilization, fought off British rule to become, in fewer than three decades, a huge, sprawling, rambunctious republic of nearly four million citizens. It is also a complicated and at times ironic story that needs to be explained and understood, not blindly celebrated or condemned. How did this great revolution come about? What was its character? What were its consequences? These are the questions this short history seeks to answer. That it succeeds in such a profound and enthralling way is a tribute to Gordon Wood's mastery of his subject, and of the historian's craft.